Alte Feuerwache

Ein Abend zwischen Jazz und östlichen Einflüssen - von orientalischer Klassik, zu byzantinischen Einflüssen, Azeri Folklore und Rhythmen aus dem Balkan - mit Eigenkompositionen und Arrangements bekannter Melodien aus dem Osten.

Alexandra Ivanova is a pluricultural pianist and composer, born in Austria with Bulgarian roots, and having called France, the Middle East and the Gulf her home. She was classically trained at the piano as a child and is primarily self-taught in jazz, performing with her jazz trios since the age of 16, before she found a mentor in Tarek Yamani at a later stage. Alexandra’s interest lies in polyrhythms, Bulgarian and Maqam-based music in conversation with jazz harmony and Afrocuban claves. Last year, she recorded her debut album “Beauty in Chaos” with her Berlin-based trio, featuring compositions, arrangements and a collaboration with guest artist Lynn Adib – to be released soon.
Alexandra has toured Saudi Arabia with her Berlin-based trio and has further performed in the UAE, Austria, Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and Iceland, most notably at Reykjavik Jazz Festival 2020. Alexandra has earned scholarships from the Berlin Senate 2022 and the German Music Fund 2021 for her composition work and research.
Beyond her music, Alexandra is a hyperpolyglot and graduate of the Paris Institute for Political Sciences (Sciences Po Paris).
www.alexandraivanova.com

Wassim Mukdad
Wassim Mukdad is a Berlin-based musician from Syria. He plays the oud (the Arabic fretless lute), composes and conducts various ensembles. Specializing in several genres such as tarab, dance and traditional music, he mixes elements of oriental and western music culture.
Wassim has played both the oud and the piano since his early childhood and was strongly inspired by Munir Bashir, one of the greatest oud players ever. In parallel with his medical studies, he continued his academic musical education at the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus. In Germany he began studying musicology at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
Wassim was part of several theater and opera performances in Berlin, Hamburg and Thuringia. He has already played in France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Sweden.
Wassim is part of the Ajam Quartet and other ensembles such as Trio Laulu, Kayan Project, Atlas Ensemble whose musicians come from various countries such as Denmark, Ukraine, Israel, Romania and Turkey. These ensembles aim to be ambassadors of peace and diversity.
Before moving to Germany, Wassim performed with a variety of ensembles in Syria and Turkey, focusing on opening the dialogue between cultures and advocating for peaceful coexistence and against stereotyping, racism and wars.

Born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, Can Tüfekçioğlu has been living in Berlin since 2018.
He started taking private drum lessons at the age of 12. At 16, he signed with the most prestigious drumming school in Turkey, “Drum Club”, with an 80% scholarship and received his education there for 4 years. Between the ages of 20 and 22, after being accepted into “Taksim School of Music”, he worked with jazz guitarist Ozan Güncü on music theory and composition. After that, Berklee Graduate teacher Ekin Cengizkan took him as his student and they have worked together for over a year.
Nowadays, as he continues to work as an all around drummer in Berlin, he’s still expanding his network in his new home, always searching for new projects that excite him, exploring different genres. In the summer of 2020, Can’s project Gölgede Güneşte was awarded with state funding and residency in ZK/U (Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik) by MUSICBOARD Berlin, having been selected first place amongst hundreds of applications.
His instrumental passion goes beyond just drumming, as he also plays piano and accordion, being self-taught in both.
Growing up in Istanbul provided him with the opportunity to listen and observe closely both the western and the eastern music, which influenced him greatly shaping his musicianship and his drumming.

Michael Glucksmann ist ein Gitarrist und Bassist aus Israel. Nach seinem Abschluss an der Jerusalem Music Academy und einigen Jahren in verschiedenen Bandprojekten, zog er 2013 nach Berlin, wo er Tontechnik und Musikproduktion studierte. Seitdem schreibt und nimmt er Musik für Filme auf und spielt als Instrumentalist in vielen verschiedenen Projekten, vor allem in der Maxim Gorki Theater Produktion - Die Nacht von Lissabon und Babylon Orchestra Berlin, wo er auch regelmäßig komponiert und arrangiert.