The New York Gypsy All-stars Band

The New York Gypsy All-stars and the Turkish clarinetist Hüsnü Şenlendirici had hardly put down their instruments in Zankel Hall this past December before a raucous cheer was heard amid the wild applause: “That was hot! I am definitely going to put this on my iPod.”

Teaching Artist and host Russell Granat had hoped that the four hundred New York City high school students at the concert—part of the 2007–2008 Citi Global Encounters Distance Learning Event focusing on the music of Turkey—would be receptive to the performers. But he was shocked by the response.

“It was the first time they were galvanized as a group. You could just hear it in the hall; they were swept up in the experience,” says Granat. 

As the Zankel Hall audience erupted in applause, 500 students from Boğaziçi University watched and listened by video feed in Istanbul, clearly pleased that the music of their country had met with such enthusiasm. “The response is really good,” said one Turkish student, “and I’m really glad to hear that you love our music.”

The Gypsy All-stars event built on weeks of online study and dialogue designed as a cultural exchange using music. The program, Granat says, has already begun to break down the stereotypes each side has about the other—“It’s hard to say who learned more.”

Granat adds, “The exciting thing is that this is only the halfway point; they will use their common experience and communicate from now to the end of the school year. Now they have the common experience, which is what art does for people.”