No Lines in the Sea: Elana Sasson in Concert

Don’t miss the chance to hear the dynamic, internationally acclaimed musician and recording artist Elana Sasson, in concert with Queralt Giralt on cello and Bahar Badiei on oud.

Ten songs about water, sung in seven languages: Spanish, Ladino, Greek, Persian, Gilaki, Kurdish, and Catalan. Water as hope and survival, as celebration and mourning, as memory and loss. Drawn from traditions that have crossed oceans and mountain ranges, these songs travel the same routes as the communities who carried them: from medieval Iberia across the Mediterranean, from the Caspian shores to the Aegean, from the mountains of Kurdistan to distant rivers. Four original compositions intertwine with traditional songs and works by other composers, creating a journey shaped by movement, exile, and belonging.

Thursday, April 16, 2026 | 5:30-7:00 pm

In person at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA

Ticket prices:

General Admissiono: $30.00
Students: $5.00 (Current student ID will be required for entry)
Museums for All: $5.00 (EBT/SNAP card required for entry)

Buy Tickets 

Elana Sasson is a vocalist, composer, and bandleader creating music at the intersection of Kurdish and Persian traditions, contemporary jazz, and Mediterranean folkloric influences. She explores themes of identity and duality: weaving emotive modal melodies, intricate harmonic textures, and diverse instrumentation to dialogue between tradition and modernity. www.elanasasson.com

Queralt Giralt Soler is a cellist, vocalist, composer, and music educator, recognized for her innovative fusion of cello and voice. With a style that blurs the boundaries between her influences from classical, jazz, folk, and contemporary music, she brings a deeply personal sound to every performance.

Bahar Badiei is a Brooklyn-based oudist, composer, and educator originally from Tehran, Iran, whose work spans Iranian classical music, contemporary concert music, jazz, and free improvisation. A graduate of Berklee College of Music on a Presidential Scholarship, her diverse background shapes a distinctive approach to composition and improvisation.About the exhibition

A Flowing through Time and Tradition Concert
Exploring the theme of water through the holdings of the Magnes Collection, Flowing through Time and Tradition traces how water flows through an d shapes Jewish lives: enacting belief, sustaining life and communities, providing the means for spiritual cleansing, and mapping identities.

Presented in partnership with the Center for Jewish Studies and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at UC Berkeley.