Solo Night

On Thursday, the spotlight falls on three extraordinary violinists for a truly unique evening at Fiddlers on the Move. Layth Sidiq, Serdar Pazarcıoğlu, and Tcha Limberger will each take you on a personal journey through their solo performances, showcasing their distinct styles and exceptional musical mastery. From soulful improvisations to passionate, stirring melodies, this is your chance to experience the fiddle in the purest way.

Layth Sidiq is a Grammy-nominated violinist, composer, and educator currently serving as the artistic director of the New York Arabic Orchestra and Artist in Residence at NYU Abu Dhabi. He has toured the world, sharing the stage with renowned artists such as Simon Shaheen, Danilo Perez and Jack DeJohnette, and performing at prestigious venues like the London Jazz Festival, Boston Symphony Hall, WOMEX Expo and Montreal Jazz Festival. Layth’s first record, Son of Tigris, premiered at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2016 and he is featured on multiple award-winning albums.

In 2018, Layth made history as the first Arab to participate in the Seifert International Jazz Violin Competition, where he won 2nd place. He was also honored with the ‘Best International Artist’ award at the 2020 Boston Music Awards. In addition to his performance career, Layth directs the Center for Arabic Culture’s Youth Orchestra Program in Boston and has been a faculty member at Carnegie Hall’s ‘Music Educators Workshop’. Most recently, Layth served as the lead vocalist and violinist for the new Assassin’s Creed game, Mirage.

photo © Amy Fajardo

Serdar Pazarcıoğlu is one of the most talented Turkish Roma violinists of his generation. He comes from a family of professional musicians from Akhisar, in the Izmir region. Like many Romani people in Turkey, his ancestors migrated from northern Greece in 1923 during the population exchanges between Greeks and Turks.

As a teenager, Serdar began his career performing at weddings and in Turkish classical music ensembles. Very quickly, he sought to broaden his horizons by delving into Indian music (Lakshminarayana Subramaniam), Balkan styles and Gipsy jazz (Stephane Grapelli). In the 2000s, he moved to Istanbul, where he performed regularly with artists such as Göksel Baktagir, Yurdal Tokcan, Yinon Muallem, as well as in the arabesk (Turkish pop) orchestras of Ibrahim Tatlises and Kibariye. He is also frequently sought after for studio recordings in film scores, pop music, and Turkish Roma music.

Composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist Tcha Limberger is one of a handful of world-class musicians to have become accepted and respected in a style of music culturally not their own. His showcasing on the international stage of his Transylvanian Kalotaszeg Trio and Budapest Gypsy Orchestra, and his nurturing approach to teaching almost forgotten traditional musics, has made him one of the most prominent and important figures in folk music of the Carpathian Basin.

“It is not often that I play solo,” Limberger admits. “I prefer music to be a shared experience—not only with the audience but also with friendly colleagues.”

Stepping onto the stage with just his violin, Limberger embraces the challenge of performing alone, a setting that often makes him feel slightly uneasy. Typically, he ensures his guitar and voice accompany him alongside the violin. However, for this special occasion—a festival dedicated to the violin and fiddle—Limberger has resolved to bring only his violin and his voice, just as he did during his last solo performance for Fiddlers on the Move.

The audience can anticipate an eclectic program featuring a variety of repertoires and songs. From the soulful melodies of Manouche songs and Hungarian nóta to Transylvanian and Greek music, and perhaps even a touch of Romanian folk or jazz, Limberger promises a rich and diverse musical tapestry. True to his style, he will interweave storytelling into his performance, sharing anecdotes and insights that bring his music to life.

photo © Laurent Cheron