Music of Peace

If you enjoy Eastern and Western folk music blended with jazz, and if you are searching for peace on any level in your life, you may find comfort in the soothing melodies of the Ruken Barış Ensemble. Let yourself be moved by the shared longing expressed in lyrics written by people separated by continents and centuries.

Songs of peace in jazz and folk

This concert features songs about peace — both the inner peace of the soul and peace between people. The Ruken Barış Ensemble, whose singer’s surname “Barış” also means “peace,” performs original compositions and traditional songs that combine the Anatolian musical tradition, shaped by both Eastern and Western influences, with contemporary jazz and fusion.

The songs are performed in English, Turkish, Kurdish and Judeo-Spanish, each enriched with folkloric ornamentation and improvisation. Every song explores the theme of peace from a different perspective. At times, the music reflects on the devastation of war; at others, it explores the elusive search for inner peace in a world marked by both beauty and violence.

Ruken Barış Ensemble, together with virtuose baglama player Sinan Ayyildiz performs original compositions and traditional songs that combine Anatolian music tradition with contemporary jazz and fusion. Songs are in Turkish and English.