Turkish Cultural Center,
sent violinists Ashley Buckley and William Harvey and cellist Robin
Ryczek to Turkey from June 17 to June 27, 2007. In Istanbul, they
performed outreach concerts at various psychiatric hospitals and
collaborated with the Dunya Renkleri Korosu to present a highly
successful benefit concert for the renowned humanitarian
organization Kimse Yok Mu. They also traveled to Konya, where the
whirling dervish ceremony originated as a result of the teachings of
Mevlana Celaluddin Rumi over 700 years ago. During the ceremony, the
dervishes turn around and around as a symbol of their unity with
creation, while the musicians play ecstatic Sufi music on oud, ney,
kanun, and drums.
