Tamar Ilana & Ventanas is a Toronto-based band that performs original and traditional material in over 20 languages, weaving in and out of fiery Flamenco dance and music, Greek, Turkish and Sephardic love songs, upbeat Bulgarian dance tunes, and lyrical original melodies, while leading captive audiences through windows into other lands, times and cultures. Lead singer Tamar Ilana’s powerful vocals, honed through a lifetime of performing internationally, evoke deep emotions. Add to this the intensity of Flamenco guitar and dance, the excitement of Middle Eastern darbuka, the soulful sounds of Greek oud and baglama, the haunting sounds of classical violin and contrabass, and the flare of Jazz improvisation and you have one unforgettable show full of music, dance and inspiration.

Tamar Ilana is Ashkenazi Jewish and a member of Pasqua First Nation (Treaty 4) with some Scottish and Roma-Romanian ancestry mixed in. She grew up on the road performing and traveling with her ethnomusicologist mother, Dr. Judith Cohen, which deeply influenced her life and career. The members of Ventanas are from various backgrounds (including Greek, Italian, French Canadian, Peruvian) and all grew up playing music and performing since they were children. The project originally formed in 2011 when Tamar moved back to Toronto from Seville, where she had been living and studying Flamenco in Seville. Ventanas, meaning “windows” in Spanish, merges the members’ musical and cultural backgrounds together, creating their own sound which reflects the sound of their city, Toronto.