The performers in ‘Strings in Love’ (Tellerin Aşkı) will be Coşkun Karademir (lute and bağlama), Derya Türkan (Istanbul kemenche), Saman Samimi (kamancheh), İbrahim Babayev (tar) and guest musician Burak Çakır (percussion). The works to be performed are traditional Turkish and Azerbaijani melodies plus compositions by Hossein Alizadeh (Iran), Sultan Abdülaziz (a 19th-century Ottoman sultan) and Coşkun Karademir.
The bağlama is a plucked stringed instrument like a long-necked lute that is used in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iran. This is the instrument traditionally used by ashiks (singer-poets and bards).
The ‘kemenche’ and the ‘kamancheh’ (this being the Persian spelling) are stringed instruments played with a bow. Found in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iran, they typically have three strings and a long body, and are played held upright with their tail on the musician’s knee.
The tar is a long-necked, plucked lute that is considered to be Azerbaijan’s most important traditional instrument.
