SHAHRAM NAZERI & HAFEZ NAZERI
“IN THE PATH OF RUMI” CONCERT

Saturday March 11 @ 8:00 P.M.
Atlanta Symphony Hall

...On Sat. March 11, At Atlanta Symphony Hall, Persian Arts Group of Atlanta is proud to present world renowned Persian Kurdish vocalist Shahram Nazeri. He will be accompanied by his son Hafez Nazeri who has created new compositions entitled, “In the Path of Rumi”, an attempt to bridge the ancient, traditional music of Iran and western classical music, while preserving the essence and fundamental structures of Persian music.

...“In the Path of Rumi” project will incorporate new orchestrations, harmonies, rhythmic patterns, and melodic forms to match the particular
mood of Rumi’s poetry, while preserving the essence and fundamental structures of Persian music. This concert will recreate the atmosphere of Nava, a traditional Persian scale, not by resorting to familiar note sequences but by the use of new sonority, texture, phrase and rhythmic combinations.

...The musicians will combine both Eastern and Western musical sensibilities, by combining the quarter-tones found in Near Eastern scales with Western harmonic structures. Unlike classical Persian music, individual pieces will traverse multiple keys, and as a result, resulting in an intermingling of ancient Persian music with new influences.

...For this evening, the orchestration will feature traditional Iranian folk instruments, played with new techniques (including the setar, daf and dammam) and unlikely pairings (including viola, cello and tabla). Unlike most previous projects in fusion music; however, the Western and Indian instruments will not be utilized here as mere accompaniment or special effect, but fully incorporated into the compositions.

...“In the Path of Rumi” is an attempt to demonstrate to the world that classical Persian and Sufi music is constantly evolving, not just repeating old styles and patterns. This style of music has been coined “Modern Persian Classical Music” by Hafez Nazeri, and embraces change and rejuvenation while maintaining understanding and cultural roots in the legacy of the past. This is vital for both the health of Persian culture as a whole and Persian music in particular.

MUSICIAN BIOS:
SHAHRAM NAZERI (Vocalist)
...Master Nazeri is truly an idol of traditional Persian music and composition. He is revered internationally for his brilliance in music and performance. The New York Times has dubbed Master Nazeri as the “Persian Nightingale” and the Christian Science Monitor has called him “Iran’s Pavarotti”. Master Nazeri continues his efforts to elevate Persian traditional music to the world stage.

HAFEZ NAZERI (Composer, Setar, and Tanbour Player)
...Despite his youth, Hafez Nazeri is one of Iran’s most influential and admired new composers. Son of the legendary musician Shahram Nazeri, In the year 2000, Hafez assembled a talented group of young performers
called The Rumi Ensemble. In 2005, Hafez, along with new members of his Rumi Ensemble, launched a vastly successful North America tour called In the Path of Rumi, which began with an unsurpassed full-house at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles followed by a first-time performance, was held at Irvine’s City Hall. In the midst of this tour, Hafez received many accolades and awards for his ground-breaking approach to traditional Persian music.

SIAVASH NAZERI (Player of Daf)
...Siavash had the advantage of having Shahram Nazeri (one of the best known Iranian singers in the world) as his uncle. With a passion for Daf that was like the passion for life he learned two styles of playing that were completely new and apart from others. These groups include Kamkars and Dastan Ensemble; Young Iranian National musicians and also Traditional Iranian music group 8 and Rumi Ensemble.

LIUH-WEN TING (Viola)
...An active performer of many different musical genres, Liuh-Wen Ting has distinguished herself as a violist of great versatility and sensitivity. She is a graduate of the Juilliard School with Bachelors and Masters degrees on the viola. Her debut recital at Merkin Hall included five commissioned pieces, based on the five elements of I-Ching. Most recently, she had begun a series of sold-out concert tours of major US cities with the renowned Persian vocal master Shahram Nazeri and his son Hafez Nazeri, composer and setar player.

JIM SANTI OWEN
...Jim is an American percussionist, teacher, and performer based alternately in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. Drumming since the age of eight, he has been studying tabla since 1991 from Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri at the Ali Akbar College of Music, at the California Institute of the Arts, and in India. Since 1995 he has been studying South Indian percussion instruments including mridangam, ghatam, kanjira and morsing from T.H. Subash Chandran and tavil from K. Sekar. He holds a Bachelor’s of Humanities from New College of California and a Master’s degree in World Music from California Institute of the Arts. Owen co-directs the Indian percussion ensemble Tabla Rasa with whom he produced San Francisco’s first Festival of Sacred Drumming, Dance, and Song in 1998.
This concert is produced by: Persian Arts Group of Atlanta

For more information contact: sohrabi@mindspring.com
or call 678.357.3572