Nikolai Ruskin & Taksim

​We're thrilled to have a joint billing with these two stellar performers of Middle Eastern music!

​Nikolai Ruskin is the Music Director of the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble at Cornell, which he co-founded in 2002 with Professor Martin Hatch. Nikolai performs and teaches on numerous instruments from traditional Arabic, Turkish, and Persian music.

​Taksim is a Middle Eastern music and belly dance band from Ithaca, New York. They have collaborated with musicians and dancers from Egypt, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Tunisia, Greece, Turkey, and Armenia. “Taksim” is a Turkish and Arabic music term that means improvisation. Creation. When a song is played in a way that it never has been before. When the music evolves into the moment and we spin inside of the notes.