Lahore meets Brooklyn where the Hudson flows down from Himalayan headwaters. A magical world of global sounds comes alive when superstar Pakistani vocalist Zeb Bangash joins forces with a retinue of leading Brooklyn musicians led by clarinetist/composer Michael Winograd to unlock the secrets of Pakistan’s traditional musics – a culturally diverse region conjuring cosmopolitan Silk Road cities, ecstatic mystics, Dravidian settlements lost to the sands of time, as well as the contemporary complexities of post-colonial nationhood. SANDARAA explores a vast repertoire of South Asian musical traditions while blending it with the sounds and sensibilities of Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and Brooklyn!

Merita Halili is one of Albania’s top performers, renowned for her stunning voice, prodigious range and exquisite vocal technique. Raif Hyseni, originally from the Republic of Kosova (which recently declared its independence from the Serbia after 100 years), leads the most sought-after Albanian music ensemble in the United States. Together their performances offer masterful interpretations of instrumentals and urban folk songs from both Albania and the Republic of Kosovo. Recent performance highlights include engagements at The Kennedy Center, The Lied Center of Kansas, New York’s Lincoln Center, and London’s famed Barbican Cantre.