This event has been postponed and is tenatively rescheduled for June 2013! More information to come..

A major event in Persian culture to welcome Nowruz (Persian New Year)

MOHAMMAD REZA SHAJARIAN (vocals)
"The Pavarotti of Persian classical music" (TORONTO GLOBE & MAIL)
NPR's "50 Great Voices" http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130047062

with
TAHMOURES POURNAZERI (tar, setar, baarbad, seghar)
SOHRAB POURNAZERI (kamancheh, tanbour, shahrashoub)

and
THE NEW INSTRUMENT ORCHESTRA

premiering

COLORS OF TRANSCENDENCE:
NEW MUSIC AND NEW INSTRUMENTS FROM IRAN
** Tanbour Concerto **  Colors of Transcendence **
**Improvisation Based on Eastern and Western Music **
** Traditional Persian Music **

SAT     MAR 23               LOS ANGELES,  CA          NOKIA THEATRE
http://nokiatheatrelalive.com/events/event-detail/4368/shajarian

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpVCxCRDjZk


Mohammad Reza Shajarian and brothers Tahmoures Pournazeri and Sohrab Pournazeri join forces in an historic collaboration, presenting music from their soon-to-be-released project Colors of Transcendence. Appearing in a rare set of U.S. concerts, the ensemble will perform in Costa Mesa, Los Angeles and Berkeley in California and in Washington, DC. These concerts will also debut the new instruments created by Mr. Shajarian, and crafted under his direction in Iran. Those new stringed instruments -delodel, shahbang, shahnavaz, and other East/West hybrids  - refine and renew the long and glorious traditions of Persian classical music.

The Pournazeri brothers,  principal members of the renowned Shamss Ensemble, are two of Iran's most innovative young composers and instrumentalists. Inspired by a new family of string instruments designed and handmade by Maestro Shajarian, the Pournazeris have invented a modern Persian music that expands on Persian classical traditions while remaining faithful to its spirit. These groundbreaking settings of works by Nezami, Rumi, and contemporary Iranian poets will be set in compositions that include influences from Western classical music to bluegrass. The New Instrument Orchestra, a diverse ensemble of twelve musicians from North America, Europe, and the Middle East will perform alongside the Pournazeris and Ostad Shajarian, having trained over many months to master these new hybrid instruments and repertoire.

Mohammad Reza Shajarian is one of the most distinguished and internationally recognized musicians of our time. Born on September 23, 1940, in Mashhad, Iran, he is a critically acclaimed singer, composer and Master (Ostad) of Persian music. Called “a superstar, the Pavarotti of Persian classical music” (Toronto Globe & Mail) and named one of the “50 Great Voices” of the World by NPR (2010), Ostad Shajarian is the only person ever to receive both of UNESCO’s prestigious arts awards, the Picasso Medal (1999) and the Mozart Medal (2006).

Sohrab Pournazeri, virtuoso of the tanbour and the kamancheh, is a phenomenon in modern Iranian music. He is a singer and instrumentalist whose music has transcended the borders of Iran, fusing with cultures and artists as far and wide as China and the United States.

Tahmoures Pournazeri is an instrumentalist and composer whose creativity and inventiveness have marked him as a distinguished artist of his generation. He has been acclaimed by the United States Senate for the music he composed for the International Norooz Celebration, and he has collaborated with such artists as Joan Baez, Shujaat Hussain Khan and the great master Mohammad Reza Shajarian.

New Instruments for this new Iranian music, conceived and designed by Mr. Shajarian in his home in Iran, will make their Western concert debut in these shows, many of them -- for the first time -- in the hands of Western musicians.

* delodel - 4 stringed Persian violin
* alto delodel - 4 stringed Persian viola
* shahnavaz - 4 stringed Persian cello
* shahrashoub - 4 stringed relative of kamancheh (Persian spike fiddle) and Greek lyre
* shahbang - Persian bass
* baarbad - 6 strings, Persian oud
* saghar - 9-strings, eight of them doubles

The program reaches its climactic centerpiece with the premiere of the 50-minute “Colors of Transcendence” suite, previewing a CD release of the material set for later this year.


PROGRAM DETAILS:

COLORS OF TRANSCENDENCE
Maestro M.R. Shajarian and Pournazeri Brothers

"Nour" Traditional Persian Music
Improvisation In Nava, Bayate Zand and Shour
Mohammad Reza Shajarian  (vocals)
Tahmoures Pournazeri  (tar)
Sohrab Pournazeri (kamancheh)
Poems by: Fereydoun Moshiri and Houshang Ebtahaj

"Journey"
Improvisation based on  Eastern and Western Music
Tahmoures Pournazeri (baarbad)
Philip Brezina  (delodel)
Joanne  De Mars (shahnavaz)
Andrei Gorbatenko (shahbang

"The Kisses of Rain" Tanbour Concerto
by Sohrab Pournazeri
Arrangement by Amir Pourkhalaji

"Colors of Transcendence"
Music by Tahmoures Pournazeri and Sohrab Pournazeri
Arrangement by David Garner, Tahmoures Pournazeri and Sohrab Pournazeri
1 Dibache
2 Zakhm
3 Solo
4 Avaz
5 Delbar Sanam
6 Solo
7 Avaz
8 Az Eshgh goftan
9 Az Eshgh Khandan
Poetry by: Rumi, Nezami Ganjav, Saadi, Baba Taher, Simin Behbehani

PERFORMERS:

Mohammad Reza Shajarian (vocals)
Tahmoures Pournazeri   (tar,  baarbad, saghar)
Sohrab Pournazeri    (kamancheh,  tanbour, shahrashoub)

Percussion:
Robin Vassy   (water drum, shaker, kesskess)
Shahab Paranj   (tombak, kuzeh, zarb, damam)
Hussein Zahawy (daf, bendir)

Strings:
Stephanie Bibbo   (delodel)
David Byron Ryther  (delodel)
Philip Brezina    (delodel)
Evan Buttemer      (alto delodel)
Shain  Carrasco    (shahnavaz)
Joanne  De Mars   (shahnavaz)
Andrei Gorbatenko  (shahbang)