PRESS RELEASE: SALTWINDS & SPICE: A Collboration with Rose of the Compass November 7-8, 2025
For Immediate Release
November 1, 2025
ALKEMIE’S 2025-2026 SEASON OPENS WITH A NEW COLLABORATION WITH ROSE OF THE COMPASS
Alkemie opens its 12th season with the breathtaking concert SALTWINDS & SPICE in collaboration with Rose of the Compass. Sharing the stage with recorder superstar Nina Stern and Armenian-American oud-player and composer Ara Dinkjian, we explore the world of medieval Cyprus and look through a window into a multiethnic entrepôt. Tales of musical tales of rose-scented fountains, shrines famous for both holy relics and snake-hunting cats, and dynasties founded by mermaids feature alongsie French ars subtilior music from the Cyprus Codex (MS. J.II.9) and folk music from Armenia & Greece.
Key Takeaways:
Alkemie presents its 2025-2026 opening concert in Brooklyn and Manhattan, featuring rarely performed ars subtillior music from the 15th-century Cyprus Manuscript alongside Armenian and Greek folk music.
Ara Dinkjian, a key collaborator, is an important flame-tender of Armenian folk music in the diaspora, having assembled a collection of over 6,000 Armenian and Turkish 78 rpm records, one of the largest archives of its kind and an important resource of musical and historical memory.
Ara is also a world-known composer, whose multi-platinum hit “Dinata” was performed in the closing ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Alkemie performs a new arrangement of one of his pieces, “Fly Away.” on this concert.
This multi-sensory concert experience includes a reception featuring Cypriot and Armenian wines, including Commandaria, one of the oldest continuously produced varieties of wine in the world. Also created for this concert is a medieval Cypriot dessert called Mahalepi (μαχαλλεπί).
November 7-8, 2025; December 1-30, 2025
Saltwinds & Spice
Friday, November 7 @ 7:30pm
Location: All Saints Episcopal
230 E 60th St, NYC 10022
Saltwinds & Spice
Saturday, November 8 @ 7:30pm
Location: Holy Apostles Church
612 Greenwood Ave, Brooklyn NY 11218
Saltwinds & Spice — Digital Concert
Monday, December 1-30, 2025
Location: Access available upon ticket purchase
PRESS FOLDER (Alkemie Bios & Press Photos)
PROJECT WEBPAGE
About Alkemie
A restless collective of medieval experimentalists, the Flatbush-based band Alkemie recently gained recognition beyond Brooklyn with their soundtrack for the video game Pentiment (directed by Obsidian studios and published by Xbox), their dream-pop / shoegaze / psychedelic rock album of troubadour texts, a fine companion, and their album of 13th-century trouvère music, Love to My Liking. Comprised singer-performers playing two dozen instruments–including vielles (early fiddles), harps, psaltery, scheitholt (early zither), recorders, douçaines & dulcians (early double reeds), bagpipes, and percussion, they have been presented locally and nationally by the Amherst Early Music Festival, Arizona Early Music Society, Brooklyn Public Library, Cambridge Society for Early Music, Capitol Early Music Series, Five Boroughs Music Festival, Johns Hopkins Program in Arts, Humanities & Health, Music Before 1800, and the Berkeley Early Music Festival.
Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit in 2018, Alkemie presents its own NYC-based concert series as well as touring and recording. Later this season, Alkemie looks forward to a concert of music inspired by the Zodiac with Shira Kammen, as well as a new show written by Niccolo Seligmann starring Elisse Albian and the return of our May Day festival.
About Rose of the Compass
Called “an outstanding instrumental ensemble” by the New York Times, Rose of the Compass was founded in 2010 by recorder virtuoso and early music specialist Nina Stern in collaboration with luminaries of the New York’s world scene. Nina Stern has carved a unique and astonishingly diverse career for herself as a world-class recorder player and classical clarinetist. Stern performs widely on recorders, chalumeaux, and historical clarinets. She has appeared as a soloist or principal player with orchestras such as The New York Philharmonic, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, American Classical Orchestra, and Philharmonia Baroque. Recent projects include performances and recordings with her ensembles Rose of the Compass and East of the River. Composer/multi-instrumentalist Ara Dinkjian has been the organist for the Armenian Apostolic Church for over fifty years. Ara graduated from the Hartt College of Music, earning the country’s first and only specialist degree in the oud. He is considered one of the finest oud players in the world, with a very personal style, emphasizing a uniquely beautiful tone. He has performed in 25 countries around the world. His compositions have appeared in movies and television soundtracks, and have been recorded by renowned musicians and singers in 16 different languages
Contact Us:
For Alkemie:
Tracy Cowart, Co-Managing Director
Email: tracy@alkemie.org
Cell: 646-397-3731
Sian Ricketts, Co-Managing Director
Email: sian@alkemie.org
