Doari set out on a long, circuitous journey of self-discovery around the Middle Eastrn coastline, whose shores comprise so many different voices and colors, and brought four brilliant musicians to Jerusalem, who provide modern interpretations of ancient traditions. He arranged, combined and created new harmonies that are filled with passion.   

We invited you to join us for a one-time, original production that weaved together Turkish, Italian, Hebrew and Greek into a single, unique harmony. A touching, immersive performance that created a new, collaborative musical language out of the Middle East’s dialectic traditions, which placed female power and strength center stage.

In the magical YMCA complex, four female soloists came together, for the first time, and performed the folk songs of their homeland: from Turkey: Mehtap Demir—born in Anatolia and a renowned kamancheh player; from Italy: Maria Mazzotta—resident of the Salento district in Southern Italy and a tambourine and tamburello artist; from the Greek Islands: Ria Ellinidou—born in Salonica, she performs a unique combination of Rembetika and Middle Eastern music and from Israel: Chaya Samir, an Israeli who was born to Muslim parents in Cairo, tied different styles together and combined traditional Arabic music with songs from the earliest days of Israel’s cultural scene.

Each of the women brought their home coastlines, their own personal musical and cultural baggage. But the real musical magic happened when, led by Doari, they set off on a new, joint musical adventure that started in the center of Jerusalem and sailed over the horizon.  

Soloists:

Mehtap Demir (Turkey)--Vocals, Kamanche

Maria Mazzotta (Italy)--vocals/tambourine

Ria Ellinidou (Greece)--vocals

Chaya Samir (Israel)--vocals