Okbari Middle Eastern Ensemble returns to Bates

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

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

The Okbari Middle Eastern Ensemble performs at Bates 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 bit.ly/oacbates. 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.