who
we are
KUNE is an eleven-piece award-winning collective that embodies the energy, complexity, and creativity of one of the world’s most diverse cities. Bringing together ten immigrant musicians "from Iraq to Burkina Faso, Peru and China, alongside one Métis-Canadian artist, KUNE blends musical traditions rarely heard together on the same stage. They create a space to remember our origins, and learn from each other’s differences. KUNE’s performances are a shared moment of connection: where difference becomes dialogue and sound becomes community.
upcoming
events!
Join us live. From intimate stages to community gatherings, these upcoming performances are where KUNE’s music comes to life.
Listen to us!
Universal Echoes (2023)
Lula World Records
Universal Echoes explores the four elements of earth and Mother Nature through music. The compositions were created collaboratively by KUNE’s members and feature music inspired by the group’s direct lived and cultural experiences.
KUNE (2018)
Universal Music Canada
KUNE’s first album is a tribute to the possibilities of cross-cultural collaboration and includes the orchestra’s original members from Ukraine and Tibet.
MEET THE
ENSEMBLE
Aline Morales is a Toronto-based Brazilian singer, percussionist, and bandleader known for her dynamic performances and promotion of traditional maracatu rhythms. Her Juno-nominated debut album Flores, Tambores e Amores gained national acclaim and reached No. 1 on Canada’s folk/world charts. Born in Belo Horizonte, she began performing as a child, trained in capoeira, and worked with major Brazilian groups such as Nação Estrela Brilhante do Recife. Since moving to Canada in 2003, she has become a leading figure in Brazilian percussion through her 30-member ensemble Baque de Bamba.
Selcuk Suna is an Istanbul-born clarinetist, saxophonist, and vocalist who grew up in a family of musicians and began performing early. He studied clarinet at the Istanbul Conservatory, won multiple vocal competitions, and completed a jazz degree at Bilgi University on a full scholarship. In Türkiye, he became a familiar presence on national television, performing for 13 years on a weekly late-night show and collaborating with major pop artists, including Shakira. Now based in Toronto, Selcuk performs widely with groups such as the New Canadian Global Music Orchestra, DIA, and Sultans of String.
Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk is a Winnipeg-born violist and fiddler with a doctorate in classical and fiddle traditions from the Université de Montréal. After discovering her Red River Métis heritage, she immersed herself in Métis and Indigenous fiddle styles, studying with Ojibwe elder Lawrence “Teddy Boy” Houle.
Her collaboration with James Flett on Oméigwessi, Reel Métis: A Tribute to Walter Flett earned two Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, and as a member of the Métis Fiddler Quartet, she received the 2012 Canadian Folk Music Award for Best Traditional Album.
Saxophonist Luis Deniz was born and raised in Cuba. He began his music studies at age 10 and graduated from the National School of Arts in Havana in 2003. In 2004, he moved to Toronto, where he has maintained an active career as both a performer and educator, currently teaching at Brantford University’s School of Music. His awards include the Grand Prix du Jazz (Montreal Jazz Festival, 2006) and Galaxie Rising Star (Halifax Jazz Festival, 2010), and he has performed with leading jazz artists across Canada, the USA, Europe, Australia, and Japan.
Ahmed Moneka arrived in Toronto from Baghdad five years ago and has since collaborated with many artistic institutions including the Canadian Opera Company, Tarragon Theatre, Aga Khan Museum, Tafelmusik, Driftwood Theatre Group, Toronto Jazz Festival, Koerner Hall, Modern Times Stage, Jabari Dance Theatre, Toronto Laboratory Theatre, Theatre Centre, and TRIA Theatre. He is one of the founders of the band Moskitto Bar and is the creator and leader of Moneka Arabic Jazz – a 2019 Stingray Rising Stars Winner at the Toronto Jazz Festival. He joined KUNÉ in 2020.
Demetri Petsalakis is a Greek musician specializing in Greek and Middle Eastern lutes, blending traditional influences with Canada’s multicultural soundscape. Active in Toronto’s world music community, he has performed with ensembles such as the New Canadian Global Music Orchestra, Tafelmusik, Ventanas, and Near East. His teachers include oud masters Bassam Bishara and Christos Tsiamoulis, and jazz guitarist Lorne Lofsky.
Mexican-Canadian Paco Luviano hails from a family of musicians and is the son of legendary performer Macario Luviano. He has been frequently called on for global and hybrid music projects with such international artists as: Jane Bunnett, Dafnis Prieto, Ignacio Berroa, Filó and Celso Machado, Al Di Meola, Liona Boyd, Randy Brecker, Paquito D’Rivera, Faris Amine, and the Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra & Hutsul Planet/The Music of the Planets, among others.
Matias Recharte is a Peruvian-born drummer and percussionist whose musical roots lie in Afro-Peruvian and Afro-Cuban traditions. He earned a Bachelor of Music from the Rotterdam Conservatorium, performing with artists from around the world, before returning to Peru to teach and perform.
Now based in Toronto, Matias holds an MA in ethnomusicology and is pursuing a PhD in music education at the University of Toronto while continuing his studies in South Indian percussion with Professor Trichy Sankaran.
Salif “Lasso” Sanou was born into a griot family in northern Burkina Faso, where music was part of daily life. He began performing at a young age, mastering percussion instruments such as the balafon, tamani, and djembe before learning the kambélé n’goni. In 2004, guided by his cousin Dramane Dembélé, he discovered the peul flute and developed a deep passion for it, becoming one of the most skilled flutists in the country. After years of performing in Burkina Faso, Lasso moved to Quebec in 2009, where he has since become a respected presence in the music community.
Padideh Ahrarnejad is an award-winning tar player, composer, and educator from Tehran. Trained by some of Iran’s leading masters, she performed internationally for over a decade with the Iran National Music Orchestra before moving to Toronto in 2016.
She is now a core member of KUNÉ – Canada’s Global Orchestra, has appeared on CBC, recorded at the Banff Centre, and continues to perform, teach, and share Persian music across Canada.
Dora Wang is a Chinese-born flutist specializing in the bamboo flute, trained at the Affiliated Middle School of the Tianjin Conservatory of Music. She mastered several traditional instruments, including the xiao, xun, bawu, and hulusi, and earned Second Place in a national competition in 2003.
She performed across Europe in cultural exchange programs and presented her debut recital in 2008. After immigrating to Canada, Dora founded her ensemble Melody of Bamboo Music and has since performed widely at major events, sharing the richness of Chinese musical traditions.
