Duncan Hardy, Amos Libby, and Eric LaPerna are the Okbari Middle Eastern Ensemble.

The Okbari Middle Eastern Ensemble performs at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall.

The concert is open to the public at no cost, but tickets are required, available at . For more information, please contact 207-786-6135 or olinarts@bates.edu.

Okbari presents music from the richly varied contemporary and historic traditions of the Middle East, including 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 Okbari Middle Eastern Ensemble appears as a duo, trio, and a quartet, and has performed at venues throughout New England, the East Coast and the Midwest, including such prestigious venues as the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Alwan for the Arts in New York City, and the Chicago Arabesque Festival.

As a trio, Okbari is Amos Libby (oud, vocals), Eric LaPerna (percussion), and Duncan Hardy, who plays a microtonal zither called a qanun.

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 2008 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College Midsummer Lakeside Concert Series continues with a performance by the world music duo Okbari and special guest Carl Dimow at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 17, in the Florence Keigwin Amphitheater at the college’s Lake Andrews.

The 2008 series also presents family entertainers Mary Kaye and Professor Von Wienerschnitzel; the eclectic American folk duo Slattery and Stewart; and the popular Blue Hill Brass Quintet.

All Lakeside concerts start at 6 p.m. on consecutive Thursdays in July and August. Sponsored by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and the Bingham Betterment Fund, the concerts are open to the public at no cost. Bring a picnic supper and blankets or lawn chairs.

The rain site is the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St., adjacent to the amphitheater. For more information, call 207-786-6400.

Amos Libby and Eric LaPerna are dedicated to building upon the revelatory work of oud master and ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ alumnus Alan Gardner. The pair performs Armenian and Anatolian folk music, classical Middle Eastern music, and songs old and new from Greek, Arabic and Balkan traditions. Their own compositions are inspired by the music of the Middle East and India. Their instruments come from around the world including the oud, clarinet, duduk, bouzouki, doumbek, tabla and mridangam. Formed in 1995, Okbari performs throughout the Northeast.

Libby and LaPerna were associated with the late composer and master of the oud, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ alumnus Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian, aka Al Gardner. Libby began his musical training in Brooklyn, N.Y., studying the Indian drums called tabla with the late Ustad Mulazim Hussain. He was later introduced to the oud by Bardezbanian, and studied Middle Eastern musical modes and the Armenian and Turkish folk traditions with him until his death in 2006.

LaPerna has been a percussionist since 1987. In 2000 he joined Bardezbanian’s Middle Eastern Ensemble, and with Bardezbanian learned Turkish, Armenian and Greek rhythms. LaPerna is also a member of the ensemble Alhan, and has performed all over the U.S. including at such legendary venues as the Knitting Factory and Fez, both in New York, and the Arabesque Music Series at Club Passim in Cambridge, Mass.

Okbari has released four albums, most recently 2007’s Armenian and Anatolian Folk Music. Okbari also appears as a traditional Armenian and Turkish dance quartet featuring former Bardezbanian ensemble violinist Michael Gallant and noted guitarist Michah Blue Smaldone.

A guitarist and flutist, Dimow covers the musical waterfront from classical to jazz, klezmer to blues, and from original theater music to traditional folk. He has performed in Europe and Central America, as well as the United States. He also works with the Kolosko Dimow Duo and the Casco Bay Tummlers, a klezmer band that has released three CDs. Dimow has taught guitar at Colby College since 1981 and maintains a private studio in the Portland region.

July 24, Mary Kaye and Professor Von Wienerschnitzel: A Maine-based singer-songwriter, has combined extensive experience in music, theater and education to win critical acclaim as a performer for children.  Her work has won national awards including the Listen-Up Award from Publishers Weekly, and has been reviewed in publications including Parenting Magazine, Booklist and the Midwest Book Review.

Kaye “offers a respite from standard kids’ music with lovely, warbly vocals that recall Natalie Merchant,” Parenting Magazine wrote in 2006. “Her songs, at once silly and melodious, provide an insider look at kid culture.”

Kaye’s ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ show will feature juggling, magic and other antics by comic cohort Professor Von Wienerschnitzel, played by David Kaye. He teaches acting, directing and playwriting at the University of New Hampshire. His play “Can’t Get There” was aired on PBS and his experimental comedy “And God Said . . .” was a Top 10 pick at the Montreal Fringe Festival. The couple has performed extensively for young audiences.

July 31, Slattery and Stewart: Fiddler , a singer and multi-instrumentalist, represent roots traditions including the exuberant soulful two-steps and waltzes of Cajun Louisiana, the upbeat fiddle tunes of French Canada and New England, and the occasional mountain ballad. They have performed all over the eastern United States, as well as Canada and Mexico.

Recognized by Louisiana’s Cajun French Music Association for the authenticity of their style and repertoire, these two versatile musicians also play with the Cajun band the Offshore Aces and with the contradance band Northern Spy, included in the Smithsonian Folkways CD on New Hampshire social dancing titled Choose Your Partner!

Aug. 7, Blue Hill Brass Quintet: The has been delighting audiences for more than 20 years. The group has performed throughout New England at such events as the Eastern States Exposition, the Maine Festival, harvest fairs all over Maine and on Maine Public Radio.

The players are trumpeters Curt Brossmer and Allen Graffam, hornist Scott Burditt, trombonist Steve Norris and tubist Paul Greenstone. With Brossmer and Burditt serving as principals on their instruments with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, the quintet’s collective resume also features work with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Al Corey Orchestra and the Maine Chamber Ensemble.

With a repertoire covering five centuries, the quintet is known both for musical excellence and family-pleasing entertainment.