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“Utterly captivating.”- LA Times
One of Iran’s most beloved artists and the preeminent ambassador of Persian music, Kayhan Kalhor is a soulful master of the kamancheh, the Persian spiked fiddle. Widely known for his stirring improvisations, exquisite compositions, and extensive collaborations with artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Brooklyn Rider, Kronos Quartet, Osvaldo Golijov, Ghazal Ensemble, and many orchestras around the world, Kayhan has popularized Persian music in the West and is a creative force in today’s international music scene. For this concert Kalhor has invited Ali Reza Ghorbani to perform the ancient and rarely heard saz va avaz (instrument and vocals) tradition, whereby the instrumentalist is accompanied by a vocalist performing improvised songs with lyrics from ancient poetry. This concert marks their Vancouver debut performing together. They will be accompanied by percussionist Behrouz Jamali.
Kayhan Kalhor
Three-time GRAMMY nominee Kayhan Kalhor is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso on the kamancheh, who through his many musical collaborations has been instrumental in popularizing Persian music in the West and is a creative force in today’s music scene. His performances of traditional Persian music and multiple collaborations have attracted audiences around the globe. He has studied the music of Iran’s many regions, in particular those of Khorason and Kordestan, and has toured the world as a soloist with various ensembles and orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de Lyon. He is co-founder of the renowned ensembles Dastan and Masters of Persian Music. Kayhan Kalhor has composed works for Iran’s most renowned vocalists Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Shahram Nazeri and has also performed and recorded with Iran’s greatest instrumentalists. He has composed music for television and film and was most recently featured on the soundtrack of Francis Ford Copolla’s Youth Without Youth in a score that he collaborated on with Osvaldo Golijov.
In 2004, Kayhan was invited by American composer John Adams to give a solo recital at Carnegie Hall as part of his Perspectives Series and in the same year he appeared on a double bill at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, sharing the program with the Festival Orchestra performing the Mozart Requiem. Kayhan is an original member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project for whom he continues to compose for and tour with. His compositions appear on all of the Ensemble’s albums. Their last album Sing Me Home! just won the 2017 GRAMMY.
Ali Reza Ghorbani
Ali Reza Ghorbani is part of the new generation of Persian classical singers. While deeply rooted in Persian classical music, Ghorbani has an insatiable curiosity and open-mindedness, which comes through in his vocal style. Born into a religious family, he acquired the intonations and rhythms of Koranic chanting at a young age.
His four years of study with a master of the tar (plucked lute) and setar (lute) at the Tehran Conservatory of Music acquainted him with the infinite possibilities found in Iran’s musical heritage. Ghorbani is widely considered a worthy successor to the undisputed master of Persian classical song, Mohammed Reza Shajarian.
ARTIST WEBSITES:
https://www.kayhankalhor.net/
https://www.alirezaghorbani.com/