DeutschIncense of Music 69
Echoes from Mesopotamia
A multisensory concert – Friday, 30 January 2026, 8 pm
PANDA Platforma in der Kulturbrauerei, Knaackstr. 97, 10435 Berlin
A musical dialogue. Prepare for a musical journey to the cradle of civilization, where the spirit of ancient Mesopotamia is channeled through the strings of two master musicians. Mevan Younes on the buzuq and Elham Hamedi on the kamancheh engage in a profound dialogue, exploring the vast emotional landscape of Kurdish and Mesopotamian heritage. The evening begins with the resonant, metallic pluck of the buzuq. Mevan Younes coaxes intricate, rhythmic patterns from its long neck, each note buzzing with a vibrant, earthy energy. His playing is both percussive and melodic, building complex architectures of sound that recall the sun-baked landscapes and resilient spirit of its people. Then the voice of the kamancheh enters. Held upright and bowed with profound sensitivity by Elham Hamedi, its sound is the evening's response to the buzuq's day — a soaring, weeping melody that seems to touch the very soul. Elham coaxes microtones and delicate ornaments from its strings, navigating the intricate pathways of Kurdish maqams with breathtaking precision. Together, they do not merely play in unison; they converse. They argue, they mourn, they celebrate.
Joining the duo as a guest, percussionist Hogir Göregen turns the dialogue into a trio. He and Mevan Younes share a long history on stage together, including in the Heval Trio. On frame drums and darbuka he lays the rhythmic ground on which buzuq and kamancheh meet.
A note on the atmosphere: enhancing this auditory journey, a subtle fragrance lingers in the air — the sacred, resinous depth of myrrh echoing the buzuq's ancient roots, and the ethereal, herbal calm of lavender mirroring the kamancheh's soulful cry.
Artists
Mevan Younes — buzuq
Born in the multicultural city of Al-Hasaka in northern Syria, Mevan Younes has specialized in a traditional oriental instrument: the buzuq. His musical education began at the age of seven under his father, through whom he first learned mainly Kurdish music. He later continued his training at the Damascus Higher Institute of Music, completing his studies in 2011 under Professor Askar Ali Akbar — during which time he also began working as a buzuq teacher. Mevan is a member of the Syrian Arab National Orchestra and has appeared at numerous events, including the Morgenland Festival in Osnabrück and the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. International engagements have taken him to countries including Turkey, Tunisia, Ghana, Kurdistan, Denmark, France, and Germany. Since 2015 Mevan Younes has lived in the greater Berlin area, where he continues his musical development and remains active in various bands and ensembles, including the Ugarit Trio and the Berlin Orient Ensemble.
Elham Hamedi — kamancheh
Elham Hamedi (b. 1987, Mahabad) is a Kurdish musician, singer, and composer specializing in the Persian kamancheh. She studied classical Persian music at the University of Art in Tehran and later taught at the Diyarbakir Academy of Music. Since 2020 she has been studying composition at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin under Stefan Winkler and Arnulf Herrmann. Her performances as both an instrumentalist and singer have taken her to Malaysia, the Middle East, Russia, and Europe, including a recent appearance in Oslo and a live RBB broadcast from Berlin's Luisenkirche. In 2019 she received second prize in the ISAM Composition Competition, and in 2024 she presented a widely acclaimed solo recital at the Ostheimer Organ Festival.
Hogir Göregen — percussion (guest)
Hogir Göregen is a versatile percussionist from Anatolia who lives and works in Berlin. With nimble hands he brings the rhythmic richness of the ancient cultures of Anatolia and Mesopotamia to the stage – on erbane, def, davul, darbuka and bendir. Equally at home in any genre, he draws on Kurdish, Middle Eastern, Indian, Japanese and European traditions, aiming for a synthesis that is dynamic, spontaneous, playful and powerful all at once. He is a founding member of the Heval Trio (with Mevan Younes and Mikail Yakut), plays in the Berlin Metropol Orchestra, and has performed with singer Adir Jan, the baroque ensemble Musica Alta Ripa and the project ABADIR (Rewire Festival 2023), among others.
Incense
Myrrh comes from small, thorny trees of the genus Commiphora, native to the dry, arid regions of Northeast Africa and the Middle East — particularly Somalia, Yemen, and Ethiopia. The treasured resin is not the wood or sap, but a fragrant gum that naturally oozes from the bark to heal wounds. Harvesters make deliberate cuts to encourage more of this valuable secretion, which hardens into tear-shaped, reddish-brown granules over several weeks.
Myrrh has been traded across the ancient world for over 4,000 years, carried along the same incense routes that connected Arabia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean. The Egyptians used it in embalming and temple rites; it was burned as an offering in Jewish, early Christian, and Islamic traditions alike, and appears in the Bible as one of the three gifts brought to the infant Jesus, alongside gold and frankincense. In classical Greece and Rome it was valued as both perfume and medicine, believed to guard against infection and soothe wounds. Its association with mourning and embalming has given it a lasting symbolic weight — myrrh is the incense of transitions, endings, and sacred solemnity.
When burned, myrrh releases a rich, complex aroma that is simultaneously earthy, bittersweet, and slightly medicinal. Unlike floral scents, it provides a profound, grounding base note, still used today for meditation, temple ceremonies, and moments that call for gravity and stillness rather than lightness.
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia, also known as true lavender) is an evergreen, strongly fragrant sub-shrub in the mint family, native to the dry, sunny regions around the Mediterranean. Its narrow, grey-green leaves are softly felted, and from June to August it blooms in characteristic spike-shaped flower heads in shades of violet, blue, or pink, growing to about 30–60 centimetres tall.
The name lavender likely derives from the Latin lavare, "to wash" — the Romans scented their bathwater with it, and it later became a staple of monastery gardens across medieval Europe, grown as much for medicine as for fragrance. It was carried in small sachets to ward off plague-bearing insects, strewn on floors to freshen homes, and used by herbalists for centuries as a remedy for headaches, nerves, and sleeplessness. In folk traditions across Europe, lavender was also considered a plant of protection, tucked into linens and cradles to guard against bad dreams and negative influence.
Dried lavender flowers release a sweet, floral, calming scent with balsamic undertones when burned. Its smoke is lighter and airier than resinous incenses, traditionally used for stress, restlessness, and headaches, and still burned today to soothe the mind and support restful sleep.