Right at home in songs

TICKETS to see Saray Iluminado quickly sold out when the Melbourne-based world music ensemble last visited Hobart last year, and a similar response is expected when they return for a special one-off show next month.

Formed in 2013, Saray Iluminado has progressed swiftly to become one of Melbourne’s most original world music ensembles.

The group plays hauntingly evocative music from Bosnia and Herzegovina, describing its sound as “a musical mirror revealing the four reflections of the Balkan spirit: the Slavic, the Ottoman, the Mediterranean and the Jewish”.

Their 2016 debut album Nightingales in the Rose Garden explores the musical traditions of Sevdah and Sephardic music.

Saray Iluminado was brought together by Bosnian-Australian singer Nela Trifkovic, who teams up with top klezmer violinist Ernie Gruner, double bassist Dan Witton, laouto player Irine Vela, and ney flautist Kelly Dowall to “pursue life away from home by finding a home in song”.

The group’s intimate concert at the Hobart Synagogue next week will feature the songs of the Sephardic Jews, who were expelled from Spain in 1492 and later settled in the Balkans. The performance “celebrates love, grief and the unique Sephardic Jewish life” in cities such as Sarajevo and Mostar.

Saray Iluminado perform at the Hobart Synagogue (59 Argyle Street) from 7.30pm on January 11. Tickets are $30, $25 pre-sale from www.trybooking.com/TALX, or at door (if not already sold out).