Kamkars Returns After One-Week UK Concert Tour

The group gave several performances honoring the Italian composer Luciano Berio in Oxford, York, Manchester, Birmingham, and Nottingham, accompanied by the London Sinfonietta Orchestra.

Omaggio was the first festival celebrating Berio’s work after the composer’s unexpected death last spring. At the time, Berio had been working on a piece combining elements of Sicilian folksongs and Kurdish songs.

Organized by Gillian Moore, the manager of the London Sinfonietta Orchestra, the festival also included performances by the renowned Armenian duduk player Jevan Gesparian.

Berio is considered to be one of the 20th century’s leading composers. He was a pioneer in the use of electronic and avant-garde composition techniques. In terms of influence he is often placed in the same league as Stravinsky. During his career he taught at Tanglewood, Mills College, Harvard University, and Juilliard College.

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