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At the fourth annual Turkish Music Festival in September 2021, musicians from the Hoppa Project, with master clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski, took our audience on a foot-stomping cultural tour of Turkey, showcasing music of the Ottoman Empire from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea and Georgia to Bulgaria. Here they perform “Tulum ve Kiremit Parçaları,” a traditional song from the Thracian region of Turkey.

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About Ismail Lumanovski

The extraordinary clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski is a musical force of passion and dynamic virtuosity. Already of international distinction, Lumanovki has launched a major career as a soloist and chamber musician in both classical and cross-over repertoire. His synergistic blend of natural talent and training combines the spirit of folk music with the discipline of classical music.

He is the winner of numerous competitions including: 1st prize of the 23rd, 24th and 25th Clarinet Competition of Macedonia, the Juilliard Clarinet Concerto Competition, the International Young Artist Competition in Bulgaria, the National Folk Music Competition in Macedonia and the Andreas Makris Clarinet Competition in Colorado. Additionally, Lumanovski received the “Fine Arts Award” twice at the Interlochen Arts Academy. Most recently, he took 1st prize at the Arriaga Chamber music competition.

Born in Bitola, Macedonia, Lumanovski started playing the clarinet at age eight. His United States debut performance of Weber’s First Clarinet Concerto in Interlochen, Michigan was in 2002. He holds a Bachelor of Music Degree and Master of Music Degree from the Juilliard School of Music in New York where he studied with Charles Neidich and Ayako Oshima.

Lumanovski has had the privilege to perform with innumerable extraordinary musicians and orchestras including: Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, the Berklee Middle Eastern Fusion Ensemble, New Juilliard Ensemble, World Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Palestine Youth Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, and Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra. Lumanovski is also a master improviser and performer of Macedonian, Turkish, and Gypsy music and is presently touring with the renowned New York Gypsy All-Stars. This jazz influenced fusion and folk music group exemplifies Lumanovski’s fantastic originality. His sound blends Balkan folk music and western classical music with breathtaking dexterity, musicality and tenacity, lending his style a gratifying complexity.

About Hoppa Project

Hoppa Project aims to promote music from Eastern Europe and the Middle East by performing the music of the region with a wide range of styles from folk to newly commissioned contemporary music.

‘Hoppa’ is an exclamation that is commonly used in the region to say “Come on! Let’s go!” This is the attitude Hoppa feels is needed to share what they love. Their goal is to expose people to a culture that they might not know well and also bring foreigners abroad back home with music. Hoppa Project brings western and eastern trained musicians together in order to discover cultural connections.

Some of Hoppa Project’s recent events include a multi-day annual Turkish Music Festival in Houston, a concert series of Turkish and Australian music to remember the 100-year anniversary of the events at Gelibolu (Gallipoli) during World War I; and the Segâh Festival of Persian and Turkish Music, a multi-day festival held in Pittsburgh, PA to highlight the cultural relationship between these two regions.

Hoppa Project premiered and recorded Reza Vali's Sornâ (Folk Songs, Set No. 17) which is included in the album The Ancient Call released by Albany Records in 2016. Hoppa Project has collaborated with varied artists such as clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski, Beth Bahia Cohen, Carpe Diem String Quartet, Del Sol String Quartet, Apollo Chamber Players, singer Ayşe Göknur Şanal, and composers Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, Özkan Manav Önder Özkoç, Yiğit Kolat, and Kamran İnce.

For more information, please visit www.hoppaproject.com.

Major support for Performing Arts programs comes from Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, Ellen Gritz and Milton Rosenau, the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, Houston Endowment, The Hearst Foundation Inc., The Brown Foundation Inc., Mary Lawrence Porter, and the Anchorage Foundation of Texas. Generous funding also provided by AARP, The Clayton Fund, The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, Miller Theatre Advisory Board. Additional support provided by the Wortham Foundation, Texas Commission on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, United Airlines, The Southmore, and through contributions from the Friends of Asia Society, a dedicated group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing exceptional programming and exhibitions to Asia Society Texas Center.

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Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community — trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.