NY Oud Festival Day 3 | Volkan Efe, Brandon Terzic, Bahloul 7:30pm (7pm doors) Saturday May 23rd 2026 Jalopy Theatre - 315 Columbia St, Brooklyn, NY 11231 $30 advance ($35 door)

Day 3 of the festival will feature sets by oudists Volkan Efe, Brandon Terzic and Bahloul. Seating is limited and first-come first-serve.

Originally from Turkey, Volkan Efe is an oud player and multi-instrumentalist whose music spans Turkish classical, folk, and sufi traditions. He began studying the oud as a teenager under his father’s guidance and has performed extensively in Turkey and the United States. Based in Boston, he has appeared at venues including MIT, Harvard, and Tufts. A recipient of The Boston Foundation LAB Grant and the Passim Iguana Fund, he directs the Boston Meshk Ensemble and curates concert series exploring Turkish music across cultures. He also performs on ney, tanbur, kanun, and kemençe.

The performance will feature solo oud improvisations, as well as instrumental and vocal works from the Ottoman classical music tradition of Istanbul. In selected pieces, Volkan will be joined by Michael K. Harrist on yaylı tanbur and bendir.

Iconoclastic Oud player Brandon Terzic has performed with everyone from Sudanese singer Alsarah to master composer Henry Threadgill. He has forged a distinct style on the instrument that draws as much from West African traditions as it does its Arabic native tongue, as he has grafted the rhythmic and melodic cadences of the Gimbri/Ngoni and Kora into the sonic calligraphy of the oud.

Long on virtuosity, near telepathic musical interplay and the rhythmic and/melodic aspects of India, Africa and the Middle East as interpreted through a western ethos. The Music of Xalam is healing and trance/dance inducing, fortified with groove laden improvisation. Led by Oudist Brandon Terzic, the Trio is rounded out by virtuoso cellist Rufus Cappadocia and features the Haitian voodoo percussion of Bonga Jean Baptiste.

Bahloul is a musician, poet, writer, and performance artist. He was born (Hussam Jefee-Bahloul) in Lattakia, Syria, in 1983, and currently lives in America. His debut album "Talassus Voyeur" (distributed by Realms Production) was released in June 2019. His first English book of poetry (The Chronicler of Indifference) was released in Spring 2019 in the US by Cervena Barva Press. His poems appeared in American poetry magazines, including Nixes Mate Review and Cathexis Northwest Press. He is the founder of project ta'sheeq which merges the elements of poetry/music/visual art together in multi-sensory performances.

The New York Oud Festival is a multi-day, multi-venue music festival that displays the oud and its versatility as it exists in New York's diverse musical culture. The NYOF celebrates the oud and its wide-ranging influence on global music culture, showcasing artists from a multitude of traditions and contexts, and demonstrating why the oud continues to be one of the world's most beloved instruments. www.newyorkoudfestival.com