The Newberry Consort Presents Music from the Ottoman Empire May 9-11

This May, audiences will have the opportunity to travel back in time to the era of the Ottoman Empire in The Newberry Consort’s upcoming concert, In the Realm of Osman: Music from the Early Modern Ottoman Empire and Beyond, taking place in Hyde Park, the Gold Coast and Evanston May 9 to 11.

Originally performed at The Newberry Library for a conference in the summer of 2023, this program, curated by Middle Eastern music expert Ronnie Malley, features the music from the 17th to the 19th centuries that was heard throughout the Ottoman Empire and the regions it influenced.

“This concert was so popular when we first performed it, that it was standing-room only,” said Liza Malamut, artistic director of The Newberry Consort. “I remember there was so much joyous energy in the room, and people were absolutely entranced by the show. This time, we’re expanding it to include more music, and I can’t wait for an even larger audiences to experience this concert.”

The program was inspired by an ancient Ottoman manuscript housed in The Newberry Library called the Tarih-i Yeni Dünya (History of the New World), which was written around 1600 and which is considered to be one of the earliest written accounts by Ottomans of the Spanish Conquest of the Americas. The manuscript includes stories of the explorations of Columbus, Cortés, Pizarro, and others from the perspective of Muslim Ottomans, as well as elaborate hand-drawn maps of lands all over the globe.

Malley used the book as a jumping-off point to highlight music from the far reaches of the Ottoman Empire from the 17th to the 19th centuries, featuring works by people with vastly different backgrounds, including composers who were Turkish, Greek, Armenian, Sephardic, Persian, and more.

“People tend to think of the Ottoman Empire as a homogenous and monolithic entity, but really, when you dig a little deeper, you realize that these were very pluralistic, cosmopolitan societies where people came from many different ethnic and religious backgrounds,” Malley said.

The program will feature eight musicians on period instruments — including Malamut on sackbut (an early trombone) and Malley on oud (a predecessor of the lute) — as well as Eve Monzingo on sandouri (a Greek hammered dulcimer), Naeif Rafeh on ney (a type of Middle Eastern top-blown flute), Sam Hyson on violin, George Lawler and Oya Dubey on percussion, and Firas Zreik on kanun (a type of Middle Eastern lap harp). As with all Newberry Consort concerts, the shows will be accompanied by imagery selected by Chicago-based projectionist and art historian Shawn Keener.

Malley is an expert in music from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and medieval Spain. He holds a BA in Global Music Studies from DePaul University and an MA in Arabic and Hebrew from the University of Chicago, where he is currently a PhD student in Ethnomusicology.

Malamut said she was excited to explore cross-cultural connections between the Ottoman Empire and its surroundings, including the significant mutual overlap and influences between musical cultures.

“People tend to think of so-called ‘early music’ as just being the music from Europe, on European instruments. But really, early music is global music,” Malamut said.

The concerts will be held on Friday, May 9 at First Unitarian Church in Hyde Park; Saturday, May 10 at The Newberry Library; and Sunday, May 11 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Evanston.

In addition, The Newberry Consort will offer a virtual version of the concert, produced by Garry Grasinski and launched online shortly after the final concert. Tickets for the virtual concert are $25, and there will also be a pay-what-you-want option.

In the Realm of Osman: Music from the Early Modern Ottoman Empire and Beyond
The Newberry Consort and Ronnie Malley present a program of varied musical traditions from the realm of Osman Ghazi, or Osman I, founder of the vast territory that would eventually be known as the Ottoman Empire. Originally performed at the Newberry Library in the spring of 2023 and back by wildly popular demand, this program was inspired by the Tarih-i Yeni Dünya, also called A History of the India of the West, an Ottoman manuscript dated around 1600. The Tarih relates stories of the explorations of Columbus, Cortés, Pizarro, and others, with commentary by Ottoman scholars. Illuminated hand-drawn maps and images from the Tarih are projected onto slides behind the musicians, and music is played on period instruments from the Ottoman Empire and beyond, including oud, sandouri, sackbut, ney, violin, percussion, and kanun.

Friday, May 9, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Chicago, 5650 S. Woodlawn Ave., Chicago
Saturday, May 10, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. The Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St., Chicago
Sunday, May 11, 2025 at 4 p.m. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 939 Hinman Ave., Evanston

Tickets: $45, $65 for preferred seating, $25 for affordable access tickets, $10 for students with a valid student ID, and free for children 16 and under.

To purchase tickets please visit www.newberryconsort.org.

About the Newberry Consort:
The Newberry Consort brings together singers and instrumentalists of the highest caliber to create historically informed performances of music from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque, and beyond. By integrating historical performance and research with contemporary themes and multimedia, we inspire audiences, musicians, and scholars by providing a window into earlier times and diverse cultures. The Consort continues to uplift Chicago’s early music community through mentorships, teaching, and engagement of local artists.