ARKADASH RECORDS
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Welcome to Arkadash Records

inspiring intercultural creativity among artists of varying backgrounds. 
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AVAILABLE NOW​
Ji bo sê kes çay - Tea For Three
Kurdish music performed by Mücahit Poyraz, Ameen Mokdad & Kevin Bishop

Take a magical, musical journey to the eastern Kurdish region of Turkey, along the Syrian border. Mardin native Mücahit Poyraz sits down for tea while singing traditional songs and playing instruments such as saz, Kurdish sitar, and santur. Two friends join him for tea: Iraqi artist Ameen Mokdad, playing violin, daff and arbane, and American musician Kevin Bishop, playing viola. Discover a language and musical genre rarely heard outside of the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran due to decades of cultural oppression. This music preservation project is made possible due to support from Cuatro Puntos.
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Wahed Hellam
​واحد حلم

(Someone dreamed)

Available now
Is our new single with the Iraqi singer/songwriter
​ Hashem Saef

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Ma badi
ما بدي

(I don't want)

Available now
Is our new single with the Iraqi singer
Yousr Mokdad and Ameen Mokdad 


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Allaah Raad - Single
Available now
Arabic song written, performed by Ameen Mokdad
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Bayboon - Single
Available now
Instrumentalist journey composed  & performed
​ by Ameen Mokdad
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AVAILABLE  NOW!
Through The Eyes Of Children - Cuatro Puntos Ensemble & Do The Write Thing
Original music by  Kevin Bishop and Ameen Mokdad
 arranged for strings and clarinet
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 ​The cycle of violence is a common fact in American families, being passed down and intensified from generation to generation. Systematic violence traumatizes our youth, and that dark cycle of violence spills out into our schools. Very few people in this world will ever dare to break this familiar cycle and set a new circle in motion: a circle of love and kindness, forgiveness and empathy. Through The Eyes Of Children is a marriage of music and spoken word that features seven insightful middle school students from around the country who are speaking out against violence in their schools and their lives. They have had enough of the cycle of violence, and they are brave enough to confront that cycle. These seven young people are among the nationally recognized writers from The National Campaign To Stop Violence: Do The Write Thing. Their powerful essays are among the few each year that get enshrined in the Library of Congress. These young scholars are a light of hope for a brighter future- a future where the youngest generation is able to stand up to a cycle of violence before it becomes enshrined permanently as a uniquely American culture of violence. 

 On this album you will hear seven young people from around the country read their essays, and you will hear musical responses written by composers Ameen Mokdad and Kevin Bishop and played by Cuatro Puntos Ensemble. 

Help us amplify the voices of the brave young people who speak out against youth violence
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AVAILABLE NOW
The Curve - Ameen Mokdad & Cuatro Puntos Ensemble
​Original music by Ameen Mokdad powerfully arranged for strings, middle eastern percussion, and voice.
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Iraqi composer and multi-instrumentalist Ameen Mokdad was trapped in hiding by ISIS for nearly two years in his hometown of Mosul. During that time we wrote an extraordinary repertoire of powerfully emotional music. He arranged it later for the Cuatro Puntos Ensemble and himself. On this album you will hear a string quartet along with Ameen on dumbek, violin, and in recitation of poetry in Arabic.
 
Fear - Havoc - Hope In God - Confusion - Kholo Fajher - From Her - Lips - Secret - First Momento (The Birth) - Night in the Prince Kingdom - Sognatore - The Curve - Viaggio - Clouds - Tears of Flower - Ween - Over the Mountain - Yoqaal - Yosur
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​Available SOON!!
Sounds of Persia - Dariush Saghafi & Cuatro Puntos Ensemble

Music for Persian santur (hammered dulcimer) and string quartet

Be transported into another sound world as you listen to a traditional improvised solo by the world's leading master of Persian santur, Dr. Dariush Saghafi. Then hear a string quartet by Dr. Reza Vali using ancient Persian and Dastgâh modes, and finish with a rousing piece by Vali for both string quartet and santur. 

Improvised santur solo in Ashur mode - Reza Vali: String Quartet No. 4 "Ormavi" - Reza Vali: Ashoob for santur & string quartet
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​Available SOON!!
​From The Countryside - string quintets based on folk music


Enjoy music for string quintet (2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos) based on folk tunes from the countryside. Performed by: Annie Trépanier, violin; Aaron Packard, violin; Steve Larson, viola; Kevin Bishop, viola; Allan Ballinger, cello

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Phantasy Quintet 
Antonin Dvorak: Quintet for Strings Op. 97 "American"
Kevin Bishop: Fantasy on Kurdish Themes for string quintet
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  • Home
  • Artists
    • Ameen Mokdad
    • Cuatro Puntos Ensemble
    • Dariush Saghafi
    • Golden Scroll Soloists
  • Catalog
  • Albums
  • About
  • Contact
  • Tea For Three preorder