Maqam Gathering: The Universe of Maqam
About the event
Maqam Gathering: The Universe of Maqam The maqam is one of humanity's oldest and most expansive musical language systems — a shared tongue with shared and divergent histories, spoken across the Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Greek, Central Asian, and North African traditions, each with its own accent and its own emotional and spiritual geography. This gathering inaugurates a new series within the Maqam Gathering, in which we explore the universe of maqam one constellation at a time — diving into specific modes, regional traditions, and cross-cultural connections that reveal the depth and breadth of this living world. Join hosts Roberto Paolo Riggio, Dimitris Gkoulimaris, and Hamid Reza Fallahi for an evening of live music, conversation, and communal exploration. Each gathering in this series focuses on a specific element of the maqam tradition — a particular mode, a regional style, an intersection between traditions — building, over time, a map of a universe that no single evening could contain. Whether you come with an instrument or simply with open ears, you are welcome here. Date: Monday, August 17, 2026 Location: Riches Art Gallery, East Austin Time: 7–10pm Community gathering 7–7:30pm and 9:30–10pm. Workshop 7:30–9:30pm. Presented by Beitna, AMAI, and BRB Coffee.
