13th Annual Berklee Middle Eastern Festival (Virtual Concert)

With music ranging from the Balkans to South Asia, and featuring both the Berklee Middle
Eastern Fusion Ensemble and the Pletenitsa Balkan Choir, this program celebrates our
community's resilience and the prevalence of the arts in the face of great adversity. The
Pletenitsa Choir will also premiere a brand new choral arrangement of the unparalleled Bulgarian
classic 'Izlel E Delyo Haydutin', one of the songs that were sent into space on Voyage in 1977. This arrangement was a collaboration between festival founder & director Christiane Karam and renowned Bulgarian composer and conductor of the Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra, Dimitar Hristov.

Chorinho for Tati (V. Ovsepian)
Featuring the Berklee Middle Eastern Fusion Ensemble (Fall 2020)
Arr. P. Peruzzi/T. Payen/C.Karam
Paolo Peruzzi (Vibes)
Mena Lemos (Guitar)
Theo Payen (Violin)
Beth McPherson (Bass)
Bahar Badieitabar (Oud)
Vilho Louhivuori (Drums)
Stefanos Athinaios (Percussion)
Christiane Karam (Voice)
Production team:
Vilho Louhivuori
Paolo Peruzzi
Theo Payen

Audio Post-Production: Edoardo Santini
Audio Master: Jonathan Wyner
Video Post-Production: Simon Yu

Yar Kondas/Lusik (D.Haladjian)
Featuring the Pletenitsa Balkan Choir (Spring 2020)
Directed by Christiane Karam
Sopranos
Masa Vujadinovic (Soloist)

Clara Davaar
Sammie Guisinger
Ana Maria Villa
Anja Veterova
Mezzos
Grace Xue
Anoushka Kotak
Eleonora Rancati
Natalia Soborski
Paola Munda
Shylaja Sundar
Altos
Carlotta Amato
Serle Siliani
Esperanza Delgado
Angela Meléndez
Tenors
Adrian Chabla
Agney Mulay
Armen Hovhannisyan
Baritones
David Miranda
Daniel Dobromirov
Shane Daneyko
Basses
Maximo Abraham
Edward Sweeney
Prodcution team:
Angela Meléndez
Adrian Chabla
Maximo Abraham
Christiane Karam

Audio Post-Production: Edoardo Santini
Audio Master: Jonathan Wyner
Video Post-Production: Simon Yu

Riena (Värttinä)

Riena (Anathema) by Värttinä from the album “Miero” (Real World Records, 2006) Music by Antto
Varilo Lyrics by Maari Kaasinen, Johanna Virtanen

Featuring: The Berklee Middle Eastern Fusion Ensemble (Spring 2020)
Directed by Christiane Karam
Jose Santos Aquino (Clarinet)
Brian Urra (Violin)
Emanuel Keller (Cello)
Bahar Badieitabar (Oud)
Eunike Tanzil (Keys)
Mena Lemos (Guitar)
Manos Stratis (Bass)
Christiane Karam (Frame Drum)
Stefanos Athinaios (Percussion)
Vilho Louhivuori (Drums)
Also featuring The Pletenitsa Balkan Choir:
Natalia Soborski
Anoushka Kotak
Shylaja Sundar
Paola Munda
Serle Siliani
David Yuhico
Agney Mulay
Adrien Chabla
Edward Sweeney
Maximo Abraham
Production Team:
Emanuel Keller
Vilho Louhivuori
Audio Post-Production: Emanuel Keller
Audio Master: Jonathan Wyner
Video Post-Production: Vilho Louhivuori

Izlel E Delio Haiduting (Traditional Bulgarian)
Arr. C.Karam/D. Hristov
Featuring the Pletenitsa Balkan Choir (Fall 2020)
Directed by Christiane Karam
Sopranos:
Christiane Karam (Soloist)
Nicole Erin
Anja Veterova
Masa Vujadinovic
Shylaka Sundar
Ana Maria Villa
Vasya Popova
Mezzos:
Priya Mani
Natalia Soborski
Eleonora Rancati
Anoushka Kotak
Altos:
Carlotta Amato
Angela Mélendez
Esperanza Delgado
Tenors:
David Yuhico
Agney Mulay
David Miranda
Ilija Mihailovic
Basses:
Maximo Abraham
Julian Schoming
Jalen Jones

Production team:
Alya Izumchensky
Angela Melendez
Maximo Abraham
Stanislav Arabadjiev
Christiane Karam

Audio Post-Production: Edoardo Santini
Audio Master: Jonathan Wyner
Video Post-Production: Simon Yu

Negah/Eleven Wives (B. Badieitabar/A.Cohen)
Negah arranged by Eunike Tanzi
Add. Arr. Middle Eastern Fusion Ensemble
Eleven Wives arranged by the Middle Eastern Fusion Ensemble
Featuring the Berklee Middle Eastern Fusion Ensemble (Spring 2021)
Directed by Christiane Karam

Bahar Badieitabar (Oud)
Theo Payen (Piano)
Shadrack Oppong (Drums)
Paolo Peruzzi (Vibes)
Mena Lemos (Bass)
Christiane Karam (Frame Drum)
Production team:
Paolo Peruzzi
Theo Payen
Audio Post-Production: Edoardo Santini
Audio Master: Jonathan Wyner

Madura Marikozhundae (A.R. Rahman)

Featuring the Pletenitsa Balkan Choir (Spring 2021)
Add. Arr. Pletenitsa Balkan Choir
Sopranos:
Mayha Hamedi
Ackhsharaa Baleji
Christiane Karam
Altos:
Shandelle Gomez
Aditi Malhotra
Tenors:
Arnav Kamat
Eshu Deva
Stylianos Psarogiannis

Production team:
Stylianos Psarogiannis
Arnav Kamat
Eshu Deva

Audio Post-Production: Stylianos Psarogiannis
Audio Master: Jonathan Wyner