Amos Libby and Eric LaPerna of Okbari Middle Eastern Ensemble.

The Okbari Middle Eastern Ensemble brings music from the rich tapestry of Turkish, Arabic and Armenian culture to the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Downtown concert series in a performance at 5 p.m. Friday, March 2, at 22 Park St. (the former Maple Room).

The performance is open to the public at no cost. The series will continue with concerts on the first Fridays of April and May. For more information, please contact 207-786-6135 or olinarts@bates.edu.

The Okbari Middle Eastern Ensemble is Amos Libby (oudist, singer), Eric LaPerna (percussionist), Michael Gallant (violinist) and Carl Dimow (flutist).

Okbari’s repertoire encompasses Ottoman Turkish classical compositions, rural Turkish folk and devotional songs, Arabic classical and folk music, and dance music from the Armenian and Turkish immigrant diasporas.

The ensemble appears as a duo, trio and a quartet, and has performed at venues throughout New England, the East Coast and the Midwest, including prestigious institutions such as the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Alwan for the Arts in New York City and the 2009 Chicago Arabesque Festival.

Okbari also performs with world-renowned Armenian-American clarinet virtuoso Mal Barsamian, and has performed in Istanbul with the Kemani Serkan and Rumeli Meyhane Fasil ensembles.
Three members of the band studied or regularly performed with the late, revered oud master and composer Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian, a member of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ class of 1973.

Libby, a student of Bardezbanian, travels to Turkey to study Ottoman classical and Turkish contemporary art music. He is co-director of the Bowdoin College Middle Eastern Ensemble and an adjunct instructor of oud technique at Bowdoin, and teaches oud at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.

LaPerna was the lead percussionist of Bardezbanian’s Middle Eastern Ensemble and is a founding member of Okbari and the Alhan Arabic Ensemble. He is director of the Bowdoin College Middle Eastern Music Ensemble and adjunct instructor of hand percussion at Bowdoin, and is also a member of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ applied music faculty.

Gallant has studied Arabic classical violin with renowned Palestinian violin and oud master Simon Shaheen and was the violinist for Bardezbanian’s Middle Eastern Ensemble.

Dimow is an eclectic musician whose performances on flutes and guitar include classical, jazz, klezmer, blues and traditional folk music. He has appeared in performances and school residencies in the U.S., Europe and Central America. He also performs with the Casco Bay Tummlers klezmer band, the Kolosko-Dimow Duo and the World Flute Trio. He is a member of the applied music faculty at Colby College and teaches in the Portland area.

The Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian Middle Eastern Ensemble.

A jazz accordionist, a Maine master of the Middle Eastern oud and a favorite folk band from Québec are among the attractions in this summer’s Midsummer Lakeside Concert Series. This string of five concerts in the intimate amphitheater overlooking the college’s Lake Andrews opens at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 17, with Dr. Jeff Grosser and the Razcals Swing Jazz Band.

All held on Thursdays at 6 p.m., the concerts cover a variety of family-friendly musical styles. Concerts are held in the Florence Keigwin Amphitheater, behind the Olin Arts Center, 75 Russell Street, and are open to the public at no cost. (In case of rain, concerts are moved inside to the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall.)

The other artists in this summer’s series are Downeast Brass (July 24), Le Vent du Nord (July 31), the Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian Middle East Ensemble (Aug. 7) and the Saccarappa Boys (Aug. 14).

Dr. Jeff Grosser and the Razcals Swing Jazz Band play tunes from the ’20s to the present, reflecting the tradition of jazz accordionist .

Downeast Brass, featuring ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ applied music faculty member John Furman on trumpet, is a popular Maine quintet that offers a wide range of styles, from classical to Dixieland.

Le Vent du Nord is a Montreal quartet performing traditional Québécois songs and dances. It features the lively Benoit Bourque, well-known in the Lewiston-Auburn thanks to his many performances and workshops.

The Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian Middle Eastern Ensemble is led by one of Maine’s outstanding world-music players. Also known as Al Gardner, Bardezbanian ’72 is a virtuoso on the ancient stringed instrument called the oud, as well as on clarinet. His band, which also features accordion, violin, guitar, bass and hand drum, performs Armenian, Arabic, Greek and Turkish music from folk and classical traditions.

The Saccarappa Boys, another Maine band, plays folk, country, bluegrass and sing-alongs.

The Florence Keigwin Amphitheater, overlooking Lake Andrews, a pond near Russell Street, is encircled by a tree-shaded path. Concertgoers should bring blankets or lawn chairs and are welcome to carry in non-alcoholic beverages and picnic suppers.

For more information, please call the Office of Special Projects and Summer Programs at (207) 786-6400.