Tanbur: Yavuzhan Erdem

Ney: Emin Kutay Suleyman Demirel

Bendir: Ebru Erdem

"Music is the science of wisdom." Erzurumlu Ibrahim Hakki (1703-1780) • Ney is a very old instrument commonly used in Persian, Turkish, and Arabic music

• Depictions of Ney players have been found in wall paintings in the pyramids of Egypt. Rumi, a 13th century Muslim poet known throughout the world for his exquisite poems and words of wisdom, says:

Listen to the Ney for it tells you something It complains about separations Ney says: “Since they separated me from the reed bed, My groaning made every woman and man cry. May the separation pierce my heart, Until I can tell the distress of love”.

Ney is a friend who is pale and hollow, whose bosom is pierced firing who revives only by the breath of the almighty creator who misses the place it came from who whistles secrets to people with its groaning and screams coming out of its bosom riddled with holes. For this reason, Ney is blessed by Mevlevis and is called “nây-ı şerîf (holy ney)”.

As a symbol of God’s breathing into human’s soul while creating him/her, we breath into the Ney so that it delivers sounds from God, and tells us about him. Therefore , instead of saying “to play Ney”, we prefer saying “to breath into the Ney”.

In the Old Testament, Genesis 2:7, “ And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

In the Quran: Verse 32:9, “…and then He forms him in accordance with what he is meant to be, and breathes into him of His spirit, and [thus, O men,] He endows you with hearing, and sight, and feelings as well as minds, [yet] how seldom are you grateful!”

• God's "breathing of His spirit into man" is a metaphor for the divine gift of life and consciousness, or of a "soul"

• Consequently, "the soul of every human being is of the spirit of God"

Program

• Turkish Hymn

• Instrumental piece, composed in the early 20th century by Lavtaci Andon, a Greek composer of Turkish Classical Music.

• Kerimoglu Zeybegi, a folk dance in the Western part of Turkey.

Turkish Sufi Hymn (in English)

O Messenger of God! You came to bring us mercy, joy, and happiness.

O Messenger of God! You came to relieve the hearts of the lovers.

Instrumental Piece Composer: Lavtaci Andon (Αντώνης Κυριαζθς)

• Andon was a Greek lute player. • His birthday is not known exactly. • He died in 1915.

Kerimoglu Zeybegi, Turkish Folk Dance

Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey is dancing along with zeybek.