Alhambra Performs Sephardic Songs in Montauk

Montauk Library will present Alhambra, a Sephardic music ensemble, in concert on Sunday, October 15, at 2:30 p.m. Alhambra’s virtuoso musicians perform exciting arrangements for voice and Middle Eastern instruments of Judeo-Spanish wedding music, love songs and instrumental dances. The group performs on the oud, guitar, accordion, violin, flute, shawm, dumbek, riq, def and bendir.

Ensemble members include: Isabelle Ganz, an international performing and recording artist and pioneer in the performance of Sephardic music; vocalist Jenny Luna who performs Turkish, Balkan and Sephardic repertoires; Rami El Aasser, a percussionist who plays frame drum, and bendir; Adam Good who performs on Turkish oud, Macedonian tambura, guitar and Turkish makam; violinist and violist Marandi Hostetter who performs in classical ensembles as well as Arabic, Greek, Jewish and other world music genres.

Alhambra was founded by Dr. Isabelle Ganz in 1981. Based in New York, the ensemble has toured Andalusia, the British Isles, Quebec, Bogota, and was invited to perform at the Quincentennial Celebration in Istanbul, The First International Festival of Jewish Art Music in Vilnius, Lithuania, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and at numerous colleges, community centers and folk festivals throughout the United States. They have appeared at Merkin Hall, Weill Recital Hall, the World Music Institute, the Jewish Museum in New York, Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the Ordway Theater in St. Paul, the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Smith College, Hunter College, and the Eastman School of Music among many other venues. The ensemble won first prize in the Jewish performing arts competition and was a finalist in the Concert Artists’ Guild competition, both held in New York.

Montauk Library is at 871 Montauk Highway. The concert is free and open to the public. Register at montauklibrary.org/events.