Event

CANCELLED - Traversées – Constantinople and Ablaye Cissoko

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This event is cancelled and will be rescheduled for a future season.

Join ensemble Constantinople and griot Ablaye Cissoko for an evening of musical storytelling that blends traditions from Iran, Senegal, and beyond. The kora and setar, traditional string instruments from two different cultures, meet with vocals, double bass, and percussion. In this collaboration, these traditions merge as though they had always existed side by side. Constantinople and Cissoko’s music has been heard over one hundred times in various festivals and halls around the world.

About Constantinople
Constantinople aims to anchor music in the heart of our community and encourage cross-cultural exchange among artists from around the world. Since its founding, the ensemble has promoted the creation of works that incorporate diverse musical traditions, drawing a range from medieval manuscripts to contemporary aesthetics, from Mediterranean Europe to Eastern traditions and New World Baroque.


About Ablaye Cissoko
Kimintang Mahamadou Cissoko, a.k.a. Ablaye Cissoko, was born in Kolda, Senegal, from a Griot family. His first appearance on stage with his kora was at the age of 12 before he joined the Conservatoire of music in Dakar. Now living in Saint-Louis, Senegal, he is an eternal traveler as part of a new generation of artists who incarnate the crossover between Mandinka traditions and contemporary musical creation. Since 2002, he has played around the world, from Africa to Europe and America, and has collaborated with famous world music and jazz international artists, such as Randy Weston, François Jeanneau, Majid Bekkas, Richard Galliano, Beñat Achiary, Volker Goetze, and La Chimera ensemble directed by Eduardo Egüez.
This performance is part of the 2025–2026 Meyer Concert Series season.

The Bill and Mary Meyer Concert Series is generously made possible by the Bill and Mary Meyer Concert Series Endowment. Suntory is the Lead Corporate Sponsor of the 2025–2026 concert series.
Image credit to Samadoss Maitoul.

On View At

Side-by-side view of the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, each with banners at the entrance and surrounded by greenery
The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art is made up of two buildings—the West Building (Freer Gallery of Art) and the adjoining East Building (Arthur M. Sackler Gallery).
Location
Washington, DC
10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily