Music and spirituality: from Armenia straight to the heart of the Fassa Dolomites. The Rifugio Roda di Vaèl – located at 2283 m above sea level on the saddle of Ciampàz, in the southern part of the Rosengarten (Catinaccio) group – will welcome an instrumental group that has been taking the sounds of a land with a wealth of culture – but also plenty of hardship – worldwide since 2008, thanks in part to a number of albums released on the leading German record label ECM.
Directed by Levon Eskenian, the Gurdjieff Ensemble expressly takes its lead from the teachings of the philosopher, writer, mystic, composer, musician and dance teacher Georges Ivanovič Gurdjieff, a sort of modern Socrates who lived from 1872 to 1949. His legacy has won numerous converts all over the world. Using traditional wind, string and percussion instruments such as the duduk, kanon, oud, santur and tmbuk, the Gurdjieff Ensemble immerses listeners in an atmosphere that stands still in time and space, and is steeped in the distinctive sense of sanctity in Sufi mysticism.