Teslim: New Compositions Inspired by Traditional Turkish and Balkan Music

Teslim is a quartet of composers/instrumentalists who perform traditional Turkish, Greek and Balkan music as well as new compositions inspired by these traditions.

This afternoon concert will feature original compositions by the members of the ensemble and by their favorite composers. In addition to this repertoire, Teslim will also perform some traditional pieces from Turkey and nearby countries.

In Turkish, the word teslim means both “commit” and “surrender.” In Turkish music, teslim means “theme” or main melody—a composition journeys away from and returns home to its teslim, which becomes like a beloved and familiar character. Committing and surrendering are two sides of the same coin. If we are all commitment--technical practice, diligent study--we may not allow the spirit of the music to animate those sounds; if we are all surrender, our skills are not honed and we are unable to express that spirit in a worthy vessel.

Artist Profiles

Kaila Flexer, violin, tarhui

Kaila Flexer is a violinist, composer, music educator, teacher, producer, mother and plant lover. She has recorded CD’s with her groups Third Ear, Next Village as well as two CD’s with the ensemble Teslim. Between 1989 and 2013, Flexer founded and produced Jewish music events Klezmer Mania! and Pomegranates & Figs: A Feast of Jewish Music as well as many smaller concerts. Over the years, she has performed with various groups including Club Foot Orchestra and Kitka as well as with artists including Shira Kammen, Ross Daly, Kelly Thoma, Hamed Nikpay and Hollis Taylor. Kaila teaches and composes in her Oakland studio.

Gari Hegedus, oud, saz, mandocello, tarhu

Gari Hegedus plays violin and viola as well as a variety of lutes from Greece and Turkey including laouto, oud and saz. In addition to playing in Teslim, he also performs with world music group Stellamara as well as Bay Area groups such as Janam and The Helladelics. He has studied with oud master Naseer Shamma and has studied, recorded and performed with Ross Daly and Kelly Thoma. He has toured with the Mevlevi Dervish (Sufi) Order of America and continues to participate in Turkish ceremonial and devotional gatherings around the country. In addition to being a composer and performer, Gari is a talented luthier, repairing stringed instruments of every variety; coaxing sound from sazes, violins, rebabs, restoring lutes and lyras, making bows and finding ingenious ways to allow the true voice of an instrument to come forth. (www.garihegedus.com)

Elana Brutman, Cretan lyra with sympathetic strings

Elana has dedicated the last decade of her life to the intensive study of the lyra with sympathetic strings, an instrument which is based on the Cretan lyra and incorporates elements of Byzantine lyra and Indian sarangi.

Joshua Mellinger, frame drum, darabuka, tonbak

Josh graduated in Percussion Performance BFA at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia, California. He performs with many groups in the San Francisco Bay Area, teaches percussion, and studies tabla with Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael.

Join us in person, by live-stream, OR on-demand! (For on-demand viewing, simply purchase a live-stream only ticket, and then watch the recording at your leisure anytime in the following two weeks.)

WE GUARANTEE ALL OF OUR PERFORMERS A MINIMUM FAIR WAGE - thanks to support from people like you!

COVID Safety Protocols:

• Masking is encouraged as an individual choice; this protects everyone from the spread of viruses. Masks will be readily available to those who want one.
• Up-to-date immunizations (including flu, COVID, pneumonia and RSV) are strongly encouraged.
• Hand sanitizer will be available, and is encouraged.
• Whenever weather permits, we will ventilate our spaces to the maximum degree possible, and employ the use of air purifiers.
• If you have tested positive for COVID, or feel at all unwell, we urge you in the strongest possible way to stay home.

Very best,

Calliope: East Bay Music & Arts Board of Directors