Internationally renowned Grammy award winner, Kayhan Kalhor is joined by Ensemble Constantinople co-founder Kiya Tabassian in a program of improvised music on the ancient Persian instrument, the setar, in a joint presentation by EMSI and Early Music Vancouver.
”Rather than a duel, the two setarists’ ninety or so uninterrupted minutes onstage turned out to be a clinic in how to build something transcendent.” New York Music Daily
From dawn to dusk, music reigns among the stars of Persian civilization. The traditional music of Iran, unique to the Orient, is the fruit of a mystical heritage with a fascinating capacity for constant regeneration. For this unique concert, Kayhan Kalhor, an uncontested master of this tradition, joins Kiya Tabassian on a journey through an immense musical universe. Carrying on tradition while uncovering the future, they make poetry that sings of times both old and new, and contribute to a culture that is in full swing.
The intensely spiritual and emotional improvisations of Kalhor and Tabassian, steeped in the traditional music of Iran, are said to bring listeners to a trance-like state. The ancestry of the setar can be traced to the ancient tanbur of pre-Islamic Persia. It is made from thin mulberry wood and its fingerboard has more than 20 moveable frets. Setar is literally translated as “three strings”; in its present form, however, it has four strings. Because of its delicacy and intimate sonority, the setar is the preferred instrument of Sufi mystics.
Tickets $45 adult / $40 senior. Students & youth FREE at the door.
Flex Passes are not valid for this special event.
Concert at 4pm; doors open at 3:30. There will be no pre-concert talk.
Covid Protocols:
This event will be general seating, and we kindly request that masks be worn at all times in the venue.
