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Casa Árabe at the 41st Cordoba Guitar Festival

From June 14, 2022 until July 04, 2022
CORDOBA
Check venues, dates and times for each event.

For yet another year, Casa Árabe is joining this musical event through the participation of musicians Layth Sidiq and Vasilis Kostas, who will be giving both a concert and a master class. These events will be held on July 3 and 4 in the Andalusian city.

Vasilis Kostas is a Greek laouto player, composer and teacher with a Master’s degree from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, which he attended on a full scholarship. He was the founder/artistic director of the Epirus Ensemble at Boston’s Greek Institute and a member of “Global Messengers,” a group launched by Grammy Award winning pianist Danilo Pérez. Vasilis has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Panama Jazz Festival and WOMEX, as well as sharing stages with renowned artists like Simon Shaheen, Tigran Hamasyan, Antonio Serrano and Shreya Ghoshal, to name just a few. He has performed as a soloist with the Berklee World Strings Orchestra conducted by Eugene Friesen, as well as going on international tours to present his laouto works.

His approach to this continental lute is based on the use of various languages from traditional Greek music through his instrument, building bridges between his own roots and jazz improvisation, while adapting the complex lines and musical philosophy of master clarinetist Petroloukas Halkias. This work in artistic direction led both Petroloukas and Vasilis to record their first duo album, titled “The Soul of Epirus,” released in October 2019. That project was voted Best Album of 2019 by the Balkan World Music Chart and was premiered on tour in the United States, France, Switzerland and Greece. Vasilis recently received the Artist Fellowship in the Traditional Arts Award bestowed by the Mass Cultural Council, and the Forty Under 40 Award from the Greek America Foundation because of his efforts to promote traditional Greek music in the United States.

He currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts, and presents and shares his musical roots and projects at concert halls and academic institutions throughout the US and the entire world.

Layth Sidiq is an award-winning violinist, composer and teacher, as well as becoming the new artistic director of the New York Arabic Orchestra. He has toured the world, performing with greats like Simon Shaheen, Danilo Pérez, Javier Limón and Jack Dejohnette, as well as performing at such venues as the London Jazz Festival, Boston Symphony Hall, WOMEX Expo, BBC Proms, Detroit Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival and Dominican Republic Jazz Festival. Layth is featured on many award-winning albums, and his first album, “Son of Tigris,” premiered at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2016.

A Jordanian with Iraqi roots and musicians for parents, Layth began his training in music at Amman’s National Conservatory of Music with Timur Ibrahimov, and at the age of just eleven he held his first major solo performance with the European Chamber String Orchestra before Jordanian royalty. Layth completed his bachelor’s degree at the prestigious Chethams School of Music in Manchester (UK), and after being admitted to the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston on a full scholarship he traveled to the US to finish his bachelor’s degree in musical performance in 2014 and his Master’s degree at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute in 2016.

In 2018, Layth was one of the winners of the Zbigniew Seifert International Jazz Violin Competition, thus becoming the first and only Arab ever to participate at that time. He then presented his compositions, a mix of Eastern and Western styles performed in a way that perfectly describes the diversity of his childhood and his musical taste. In addition, he was recently named “International Artist of the Year” at the 2020 Boston Music Awards.

In 2019, Layth released a new EP titled “Hamsa” in collaboration with Carnatic vocalist Rohith Jayaraman, combining the vast worlds of Arabic and Carnatic music. Through their years of friendships and deep roots, this EP showcases a sound novel to both musical styles, with one hand stretched out into the past and the other into the future. 

  • Concert by Vasilis Kostas & Layth Sidiq Duo: “Steps”

    From June 14, 2022 until July 03, 2022The concert will be taking place on July 3 at 8:30 p.m.
    CORDOBA
    Teatro Góngora (at Calle Jesús María, 10, 14003 Cordoba). The concert will be taking place on July 3 at 8:30 p.m. 12 euros.
    Ticket sales by following this link or at the IMAE box office.
    Casa Árabe is participating in the 41st Cordoba Guitar Festival with the performance “Steps” by Vasilis Kostas & Layth Sidiq Duo. It will be taking place at the Teatro Góngora in this Andalusian city on Sunday, July 11. Tickets are now being sold online.
    “Steps” is the new album by the duo made up by laouto (Greek lute) player Vasilis Kostas and violinist Layth Sidiq. Released in June 2022, it combines the musical universes of the Greek and Arabic traditions with contemporary improvisation. The playlist consists of original compositions that explore the musical bridges between these two cultures and expand the potential for what a duo is capable of. From the Tigris River to the mountains of Epirus (Greece), the duo experiments with new structures and challenges music’s boundaries by recreating its repertoire at a specific moment for the audience to enjoy.

    In a fusion of different sounds and techniques, the duo has toured the world over the past six years, performing at famous concert halls and academic institutions, including WOMEX, the ADEM festival, Tufts University, the Berklee College of Music, the Montreal Jazz Festival and Carnegie Hall. This album is meant to serve as inspiration for similar collaborations revolving around friendship, respect and a philosophy of improvised exploration that can lead tradition into new territories.

    Members:
    Layth Sidiq (violin)
    Vasilis Kostas (laouto)

    Tickets are on sale now by following this link and at the IMAE box office

  • Master class on Arab and Greek music traditions, improvisation and composition

    From June 14, 2022 until July 04, 2022The event will be taking place on Monday, July 4 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
    CORDOBA
    Casa Árabe headquarters (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). The event will be taking place on Monday, July 4 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 12 euros.
    In English, with simultaneous translation into Spanish.
    On Monday, July 4, Layth Sidiq (violin) and Vasilis Kostas (laouto) will be giving a training session as part of the 41st Cordoba Guitar Festival. The class is being held to complement the concert which the duo will be giving the day before.
    To complement the concert by Layth Sidiq (violin) and Vasilis Kostas (laouto) on Sunday, July 3 as part of the training activities held in conjunction with the Cordoba Guitar Festival, the musicians will be giving a master class titled “The Arab and Greek musical traditions in contemporary improvisation and composition.”

    The class will be held on Monday July 4 at Casa Árabe’s headquarters (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener). This master class will last 2 hours, and the audience will be able to take part by asking questions and listening to the performance as the creative process is explained. The event will be held in English with simultaneous translation.


    (*)Free registration for students of the Festival courses. For those not enrolled in any of the Training Program courses, payment of the registration fee for this master class will include free entry to the concert by Vasilis Kostas & Layth Sidiq Duo.

  • Concert by Cecilia Moreno Úbeda

    July 07, 202210:00 p.m.
    CORDOBA
    Casa Árabe headquarters (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 10:00 p.m. Free entry until the venue’s capacity is reached.
    As part of the Cordoba Guitar Festival, the performance “From Bach to Brower: A journey through guitar literature” will be held at our Andalusian headquarters on Thursday July 7.
    Born in Peal de Becerro (Jaén), Cecilia Moreno began her musical studies at the age of 8 at the María de Molina Conservatory in Úbeda, first under the tutelage of Eduardo Sánchez Delgado and then finishing her professional degree studies with Arturo Fernández Bayona. She is currently completing her third year of advanced music studies, specializing in classical guitar at the Rafael Orozco Higher Music Conservatory in Cordoba under the direction of Javier Riba. While undertaking her official studies, she has received master classes from performers of the stature of Leo Brouwer, Fernando Espí, Pedro Mateo, Àlex Garrobé and Margarita Escarpa, in addition to others. Cecilia Moreno has been a finalist at international competitions, including the Fourth Alhambra International Guitar Competition in Valencia, and she won awards at the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth editions of the María de Molina Young Performers Contest, earning First and Second Prize in both the individual category and the Chamber Music section. In 2019, she won Second Prize at the City of Coria’s Twenty-third International Guitar Festival and the Special Prize for Professional Music and Dance Teaching. In 2021, Cecilia Moreno won First Prize in her category at Madrid’s prestigious International Guitar Competition and earned Third Prize at the Twenty-fourth José Tomás Villa de Petrer International Guitar Competition. Her concert experience includes participation as a soloist at the Profundiza Awards, the Úbeda Music and Dance Festival and the Cordoba Synagogue, organized by the Junta de Andalucía.

    PROGRAM:
    ARCAS: Fantasía sobre El Paño J.
    MANJÓN: Aire Vasco
    SOR: Gran Solo Op.14 S.
    BACH: Suite N.1 (BWV 1007)
    BROUWER: Hika