Yale Near East & Balkan Ensemble Spring Concert
The Near Eastern & Balkan Ensemble of Yale University’s Department of Music performs musics of West Asia and Southeast Europe, featuring sacred and secular styles from countries such as Bosnia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Lebanon, and Syria. Students in the group interpret diverse repertoire through characteristic approaches to ornamentation, improvisation, and meter (including additive aksak meters like 7/8 and 11/8) on their own instruments and voice parts, as well as on traditional regional instruments (particularly on Balkan drums and tambura string instruments).