WMI Tours
Contemporary Persian Music
Hossein Alizadeh & Hamavayan Ensemble
March - April 2007
Outreach Programs: Workshops; Lec-Dems & School Programs
"(Alizadeh is) one of the most innovative musicians in Iran."
Songlines
Afsaneh Rasaei vocal
Pejman Hadadi, tombak, daf (percussion)
Ali Boustan, setar (lute)
Pouria Akhavass, vocal
Nima Alizadeh, robab (lute)
Saba Alizadeh, kamancheh (spike fiddle)
Hossein Alizadeh, shourangiz (new lute)
Led by one of Iran’s leading instrumentalists and composers, Hossein Alizadeh, the 6-member Hamavayan Ensemble performs new interpretations of classical Persian music. This unusual group features both female and male vocalists, strings and percussion. The female vocalist, Afsaneh Rassaei, who studied with Hossein Alizadeh and Mohammad Reza Shajarian, has toured throughout the world with various ensembles. This will be the group’s first North American tour.
As a soloist and as a member of World Music Institute’s virtuoso touring ensemble, Masters of Persian Music, Hossein Alizadeh has performed throughout North America and Europe for the past ten years. His chosen instruments are the ancient plucked lutes of Persia, the tar and the setar. Recently he has been playing a new instrument, built to his specification, that combines aspects of the tar, setar and tanbur (an instrument particularly associated with Sufism). This instrument, known as the shurangiz, has six strings and a wider range than the tanbur.
Hossein Alizadeh was born in Tehran in 1951. After graduating from the Music Conservatory, he entered the School of Music of the University of Tehran in 1975 where he received his degree in composition and performance. He studied traditional Persian music with many masters of the radif (repertoire of Iranian classical music).
In the 1980s Alizadeh performed with the National Orchestra of Iran and later became the conductor and a soloist for the Iranian National Radio and Television Orchestra. He founded the Aref Ensemble and performed with the Shayda Ensemble, two leading groups dedicated to the promotion and advancement of Iranian classical music. He performed with the orchestra of the Bejart Ballet Company in its production of Maurice Bejart’s Gulistan and, in 2000, Iran’s Ministry of Culture named him the best contemporary artist. He has composed many works of contemporary and neo-classical Iranian music as well as film scores for some of Iran’s most famous new wave films including Gabbeh, Turtles Can Fly and A Time for Drunken Horses.
Alizadeh dedicates much of his time to education. He has taught at the University of Tehran, the Tehran Music Conservatory and the California Institute of the Arts. He has made numerous recordings including three for the World Village label (distributed by Harmonia Mundi U.S.A.). Two of these, Without You (nominated for a Grammy in 2003) and Faryad were with Masters of Persian Music. His most recent recording, Endless Vision, featuring the Hamavayan Ensemble with the Armenian master duduk player Djivan Gasparyan, was just nominated for a Grammy.
TOUR DATES:
March 9th 8pm
Toronto, ON
The Recital Hall at the Toronto Centre for the Arts
5040 Yonge St.
Tickets and Information: 416 870-8000, www.ticketmaster.ca
Presented by Small World Music
www.smallworldmusic.com
March 14th 7:30pm
Saratoga, CA
The Carriage House at Villa Montalvo
Map of 15400 Montalvo Rd, Saratoga, CA 95070
Tickets and Information: 408.961.5858 and www.villamontalvo.org
March 16th 8pm
Los Angeles, CA
Royce Hall at UCLA
340 Royce Drive Los Angeles, CA 90095
Tickets and Information: 310.825.2101 and www.uclalive.org
March 25th Time: 6pm
Atlanta, GA
Pace Academy
966 W Paces Ferry Rd
Atlanta, GA 30327
Tickets and Information: (678) 357-3572
March 29th 8:00pm
Washington, DC
Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University
730 21st Street, NW, Washington DC 20052
Tickets and Information: TicketMaster 301.808.6900 or 202.397.SEAT
For group sales: 202.994.6851. On-site box office open Tuesday-Friday, 11am-5pm.
www.lisner.org or www.ticketmaster.com
March 30th 7:30pm
Cleveland, OH
Drury Theatre, Cleveland Play House
8500 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Tickets and Information: 1-888-CMA-0033 and www.clevelandart.org/perform
Presented by The Cleveland Museum of Art
www.clevmusart.org
March 31st 8:30pm
New York, NY
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall
West 57th Street at 7th Avenue
Tickets and Information: 212-545-7536 and www.worldmusicinstitute.org
Presented by Carnegie Hall in association with World Music Institute
www.worldmusicinstitute.org
April 1st 7:30pm
Boston, MA
Somerville Theater
55 Davis Square, Somerville MA 02145
Tickets and Information: 617-876-4275 and www.worldmusic.org
Presented by World Music
www.worldmusic.org
Outreach Programs: Workshops; Lec-Dems & School Programs
"(Alizadeh is) one of the most innovative musicians in Iran."
Songlines
Afsaneh Rasaei vocal
Pejman Hadadi, tombak, daf (percussion)
Ali Boustan, setar (lute)
Pouria Akhavass, vocal
Nima Alizadeh, robab (lute)
Saba Alizadeh, kamancheh (spike fiddle)
Hossein Alizadeh, shourangiz (new lute)
Led by one of Iran’s leading instrumentalists and composers, Hossein Alizadeh, the 6-member Hamavayan Ensemble performs new interpretations of classical Persian music. This unusual group features both female and male vocalists, strings and percussion. The female vocalist, Afsaneh Rassaei, who studied with Hossein Alizadeh and Mohammad Reza Shajarian, has toured throughout the world with various ensembles. This will be the group’s first North American tour.
As a soloist and as a member of World Music Institute’s virtuoso touring ensemble, Masters of Persian Music, Hossein Alizadeh has performed throughout North America and Europe for the past ten years. His chosen instruments are the ancient plucked lutes of Persia, the tar and the setar. Recently he has been playing a new instrument, built to his specification, that combines aspects of the tar, setar and tanbur (an instrument particularly associated with Sufism). This instrument, known as the shurangiz, has six strings and a wider range than the tanbur.
Hossein Alizadeh was born in Tehran in 1951. After graduating from the Music Conservatory, he entered the School of Music of the University of Tehran in 1975 where he received his degree in composition and performance. He studied traditional Persian music with many masters of the radif (repertoire of Iranian classical music).
In the 1980s Alizadeh performed with the National Orchestra of Iran and later became the conductor and a soloist for the Iranian National Radio and Television Orchestra. He founded the Aref Ensemble and performed with the Shayda Ensemble, two leading groups dedicated to the promotion and advancement of Iranian classical music. He performed with the orchestra of the Bejart Ballet Company in its production of Maurice Bejart’s Gulistan and, in 2000, Iran’s Ministry of Culture named him the best contemporary artist. He has composed many works of contemporary and neo-classical Iranian music as well as film scores for some of Iran’s most famous new wave films including Gabbeh, Turtles Can Fly and A Time for Drunken Horses.
Alizadeh dedicates much of his time to education. He has taught at the University of Tehran, the Tehran Music Conservatory and the California Institute of the Arts. He has made numerous recordings including three for the World Village label (distributed by Harmonia Mundi U.S.A.). Two of these, Without You (nominated for a Grammy in 2003) and Faryad were with Masters of Persian Music. His most recent recording, Endless Vision, featuring the Hamavayan Ensemble with the Armenian master duduk player Djivan Gasparyan, was just nominated for a Grammy.
TOUR DATES:
March 9th 8pm
Toronto, ON
The Recital Hall at the Toronto Centre for the Arts
5040 Yonge St.
Tickets and Information: 416 870-8000, www.ticketmaster.ca
Presented by Small World Music
www.smallworldmusic.com
March 14th 7:30pm
Saratoga, CA
The Carriage House at Villa Montalvo
Map of 15400 Montalvo Rd, Saratoga, CA 95070
Tickets and Information: 408.961.5858 and www.villamontalvo.org
March 16th 8pm
Los Angeles, CA
Royce Hall at UCLA
340 Royce Drive Los Angeles, CA 90095
Tickets and Information: 310.825.2101 and www.uclalive.org
March 25th Time: 6pm
Atlanta, GA
Pace Academy
966 W Paces Ferry Rd
Atlanta, GA 30327
Tickets and Information: (678) 357-3572
March 29th 8:00pm
Washington, DC
Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University
730 21st Street, NW, Washington DC 20052
Tickets and Information: TicketMaster 301.808.6900 or 202.397.SEAT
For group sales: 202.994.6851. On-site box office open Tuesday-Friday, 11am-5pm.
www.lisner.org or www.ticketmaster.com
March 30th 7:30pm
Cleveland, OH
Drury Theatre, Cleveland Play House
8500 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Tickets and Information: 1-888-CMA-0033 and www.clevelandart.org/perform
Presented by The Cleveland Museum of Art
www.clevmusart.org
March 31st 8:30pm
New York, NY
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall
West 57th Street at 7th Avenue
Tickets and Information: 212-545-7536 and www.worldmusicinstitute.org
Presented by Carnegie Hall in association with World Music Institute
www.worldmusicinstitute.org
April 1st 7:30pm
Boston, MA
Somerville Theater
55 Davis Square, Somerville MA 02145
Tickets and Information: 617-876-4275 and www.worldmusic.org
Presented by World Music
www.worldmusic.org
