MMI Recordings

The Mediterranean Music Institute Recordings is one of the main activities of the institute and supports both Mediterranean music and our outstanding students as emerging artists in this rich tradition. 

Mediant Collective

The Mediant Collective was born out of a unique collaboration between Turkish vocalist/oboist Elif Çakmut, Greek lutist Vasilis Kostas, and Israeli guitarist Gilad Barakan. The three possess a strong regional identity and bring their cultures together by shining a new light on their close yet very different traditional folk music. Composer and lutist Kostas is an extraordinary young musician whose compositions include potent melodic themes that draw from Middle Eastern and Mediterranean musical traditions. Turkish oboist and singer Çakmut offers a unique sound, bringing together classical and jazz training into the melodic traditions of the East. Israeli guitarist Barakan has achieved excellence both as a composer and a guitarist versed in many styles with a deep musical distinctiveness. By exploring folk music, chamber music, jazz, and the use of contemporary arrangements, the group has stretched and redefined the definition of world music as we know it. 

Listen to sample track from Mediant Collective:

Layth & Naseem

Layth & Naseem is a duo album of Arabic music by Jordanian violinist Layth Sidiq and Palestinian cellist Naseem Alatrash. This duo formed last year at the first concert of the MMI Casa Arabe Concert Series. The album contains tracks from the live performances at Casa Arabe and studio performances recorded in Boston. The duo's repertoire includes traditional songs from throughout the Middle East. Sidiq and Alatrash graduated from Berklee in 2015, and Sidiq is continuing with graduate studies for a master of music degree in performance at Berklee's Boston campus.

Listen to sample tracks from Layth & Naseem:

Christiane Karam and the Pletenitsa Balkan Choir Album

The Pletenitsa Balkan Choir was founded by Christiane Karam in 2011 as a means to explore the choral traditions and folk music adaptations of the Balkans, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and parts of the Mediterranean. It is primarily a women's chorus with some arrangements that incorporate male singers as well. It includes and welcomes singers from all over the world, and serves as a platform for cultural exchange and an opportunity to come together and celebrate the beauty and spirit that connects us all.

The choir has performed to rave reviews in Boston and New York and has shared the stage with the likes of Zulal, Juliana Svetlichnya, Mario Frangoulis, José Mercé, Javier Limón, and Binka Dobreva.

Listen to sample tracks from Christiane Karam and the Pletenitsa Balkan Choir:

Eleni Arapoglou Trio Album

Vocalist Eleni Arapoglou's music features contemporary compositions strongly grounded in traditional Greek music. On this record, she is accompanied by Greek laouto player and composer Vasileios Kostas and Spanish saxophonist Juan Antonio García Illanas. Eleni Arapoglou is a dynamic singer from Athens, Greece who obtained a professional diploma in vocal performance at Berklee and who has, with her band, opened for the Roots. Among her many notable performances across the U.S. and Europe, Arapoglou has performed with Alejandro Sanz at the Latin Grammys.

Listen to a couple tracks from the trio's self-titled record:

TalyTali Album

TalyTali is a unique duo formed by Israeli musicians, Tal Even-Tzur (piano) and Tali Rubinstein (recorder). Their unconventional instrumentation and musical aesthetics stand out in the world and jazz music scenes. Their original music, heavily influenced by Israeli traditional songs and by their classical backgrounds, is complex yet accessible, combining strongly rhythmic settings with rich, beautiful melodies.

Listen to sample tracks from TalyTali:

Young Flamenco Project Album

The Young Flamenco Project was the first MMI recording. In 2011, with the collaboration of Spain Arts and Culture, the MMI invited five of Spain’s top young Flamenco artists to perform and record with Berklee students a concert and recording of traditional flamenco music with Latin jazz with musical arrangements by Berklee students.

Featuring a band of 16 musicians from seven countries, with flamenco artists singer Saúl Quirós, singer Tamara Escudero, guitarrist Israel Cerreduela, percussionist Rafael Jiménez "El Chispas" and dancer Belén Lopéz considered the young talents of this musical tradition. The November 2011 concert at the Berklee Performance Center was sold out and the band spent a week in a recording studio chronicling this unique musical experience for the first MMI Recording.

Listen to tracks from the Young Flamenco Project: