ConstanTinople Ensemble, led by Iranian-Canadian musician/composer Kiya Tabassian, draws inspiration from the ancient city of its namesake, illuminating East and West. The ensemble, founded in 1998 in Montreal, was conceived as a forum for creation, encounters and cross-fertilization. Over the past decade, the group has developed over 30 new works and staged nearly 100 cities in 20 countries.
Their current project, Paths to the Summit, is a unique Persian music program which recreates rediscovered treasures of Persian music from the 16th and 17th Centuries. These masterpieces shed light on a mysterious period of Persian history when large numbers of Iranian musicians migrated to the neighboring Ottoman and Byzantine cultural centers. Paths to the Summit rebuilds broken bridges between the past and present of this centuries-old culture.
The soloist guest singer is the well-known Sepideh Raissadat, and the ensemble will also include
Kiya Tabassian, setar and direction
Ziya Tabassian, tombak and percussion
Didem Basar, kanun
Kyriakos Kalaitzidis, oud
Pierre-Yves Martel, viola da gamba
More info about the group: constantinople.ca/
Guest Soloist singer Sepideh Raissadat recorded her first album with Master Parviz Meshkatian at the age of eighteen. She was the first female vocalist to have a solo public performance in Iran after the 1979 revolution. As a child, she began studying Persian classical music with famous Iranian DivaParissa and later with renowned masters Parviz Meshkatian and Mohammad-Reza Lotfi. Sepideh obtained a B.A. degree in painting and subsequently pursued her studies in musicology at the University of Bologna. She has been invited by prestigious institutions including the UNESCO, the Vatican, and international media such as BBC and RAI. She has had numerous performances in Europe, notably with Italian musicians, Franco Battiato, Andrea Parodi and Maraghi Ensemble.
More Info: www.sepidehraissadat.com