The Mediterranean Music Institute Presents a Week of Concerts, Clinics, and Master Classes

Under the musical direction of Javier Limón, artistic director for Berklee's Mediterranean Music Institute (MMI), four Berklee students will give six concerts in Spain, February 11-19.

"A thousand years later, the oldest cultures of the Mediterranean reunite on a tour in Spain. Layth (Al-Rubaye), Naseem (Alatrash), and Tal (Even-Tzur) and Tali (Rubinstein) are the young image, full of life, representing a young institute (MMI) that has burst into the music scene on a global level and which has only shown the tip of the iceberg. There is yet so much more to come."

February 11-12: The week begins with a duo performance by Jordanian violinist Layth Al-Rubaye and Palestinian cellist Naseem Alatrash in the headquarters of Casa Árabe on February 11 in Madrid and February 12 in Cordoba. The performances will announce the beginning of a collaboration between the MMI—which brings together performers, artists, teachers, scholars, and studetns to engage in cultural and musical research, and study and perform the diverse music of the Mediterranean— and Casa Árabe, a consortium devoted to raise awareness of the Arab and Muslim world. 

Al-Rubaye and Alatrash, who are studying at Berklee on full scholarship, already have built a long musical career. Their music brings together profound musical traditions with classical and contemporary jazz influences. Through their unique instrumental abilities and their passionate expressive performances, their music is an exceptional experience for any listener. 

February 13: Israeli students Tali Rubinstein (recorder) and alumni Tal Even-Tzur (piano) will join Al-Rubaye and Alatrash and visit Berklee's Valencia campus to perform a repertoire of Javier Limón’s last album Promesas de Tierra, a cutting-edge musical project reuniting Sephardic, Christian, and Moorish cultures, the foundations of flamenco and Andalusian music. They will also give a master class.

February 17: With the collaboration of Centro Sefarad-Israel and the Israeli Embassy, Rubinstein and Even-Tzur will perform as talYtali in Centro Sefarad-Israel in Madrid. The event will be followed with a documentary of the recording of Promesas de Tierra and a question-and-answer session with Limón, which will be open to the press.

The duo's instrumentation and musical esthetics stand out in the global jazz music scene. Their original music, heavily influenced by Israeli traditional songs and by their classical backgrounds, is complex yet accessible, putting strong rhythms alongside simple, beautiful melodies. 

February 18: TalYtali will perform a concert hosted by the Israeli Ambassador, Alon Bar, at his residence in Madrid.

February 19: TalYtali will perform an unplugged live streaming concert at the online Noise Off Festival, followed by a concert in the evening at Sala Clamores in Madrid.