Constantinople with Ghalia Benali: Oum Kalthoum & the Quatrains of Khayyam

The timeless poetry of Omar Khayyam meets the unforgettable voice of Oum Kalthoum in this extraordinary performance by Constantinople with Ghalia Benali. Reimagined through Persian and Arabic musical traditions, early music, contemporary composition, and live improvisation, Oum Kalthoum & the Quatrains of Khayyam invites you into a remarkable encounter between poetry, voice, and music across centuries. 

This evening brings together two towering figures from the worlds of poetry and music: Omar Khayyam, the 11th-century Persian poet, philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, and Oum Kalthoum, the legendary Egyptian singer whose voice shaped the musical imagination of generations across the Arab world. 

At the heart of the performance are songs inspired by Khayyam’s timeless poetry, composed by Riad El Sonbati and made unforgettable through Oum Kalthoum’s extraordinary interpretations. Constantinople reimagines this musical universe through a rich encounter between Persian and Arabic musical traditions, early music, contemporary composition, and live improvisation. 

Under the artistic direction of Iranian-Canadian composer and setar virtuoso Kiya Tabassian, Constantinople has become internationally recognized for bringing musical traditions into dialogue. For this performance, the ensemble collaborates with Tunisian-Belgian vocalist Ghalia Benali, whose life-long artistic engagement with Oum Kalthoum's repertoire brings both deep musical understanding and a distinctive contemporary voice to this reimagining. 

The result is not a recreation of Oum Kalthoum's performances, but a new artistic interpretation inspired by them. El Sonbati’s compositions, new settings by Kiya Tabassian, reimagined works by Bach, Marin Marais, and Dimitrie Cantemir, and moments of improvisation come together in a performance where cultures, centuries, and musical languages meet.

Kiya Tabassian is a composer, setar virtuoso, and artistic director of Constantinople. Born in Iran and based in Canada, he has developed a distinctive artistic language shaped by Persian classical music and musical traditions from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and beyond.

Ghalia Benali is a Tunisian-Belgian singer, composer, actress, visual artist, and writer whose work has helped shape contemporary Arabic music. Born in Brussels and raised in Southern Tunisia, Benali brings deep musical knowledge, theatrical presence, and profound expressive force to the stage.

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Experience the Music

This performance is built around musical conversation. As you listen, notice how Khayyam’s poetry moves through different musical worlds: songs associated with Oum Kalthoum, new compositions by Kiya Tabassian, reimagined historical works, and improvisatory passages where voice and instruments respond to one another in the moment. 
Omar Khayyam’s quatrains are short, concentrated poems that reflect on love, time, beauty, mortality, and the mysteries of existence. Composer Riad El Sonbati set Khayyam's poetry to music, and Oum Kalthoum's extraordinary interpretations gave those songs lasting emotional power across the Arab world. 
In this concert, Constantinople and Ghalia Benali return to that meeting point and open it in new directions. The music offers a way to hear how poetry can travel across languages, cultures, and centuries, gathering new meaning each time it is sung, played, and reimagined.

About the Poetry and Legacy

The Rubáiyát is a collection of four-line poems attributed to Omar Khayyam. His verses reflect on love, time, longing, beauty, mortality, and the mystery of existence.
Oum Kalthoum’s interpretation of these poems gave them a powerful musical life in the Arab world. Her voice carried devotion, sorrow, strength, and longing with extraordinary emotional force. In this performance, that legacy is not simply remembered. It is heard again, through new arrangements, new textures, and a living conversation between cultures.

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This concert is part of Ishq Festival 2026, produced by Small World Music.

ISHQ Festival is made possible thanks to funding in part by the Government of Canada, Canada Council of the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, the Province of Ontario, and Toronto Arts Council.

ISHQ Festival est financé par le gouvernement du Canada, Conseil des arts du Canada, le gouvernement du Ontario, Conseil des arts du Ontario, et le Conseil des arts de Toronto