MUSIC | Persian traditional music performance at CCM

Kayhan Kalhor

The Cultural Centre will stage an Indo-Persian concert this Friday with kamancheh master Kayhan Kalhor and his ensemble of musician friends to deliver an exotic performance that will transport the audience back to the ancient civilizations of Persia and Northern India.
Kalhor, a four-time Grammy nominee from Iran, is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso on the kamancheh, who has been instrumental in popularizing Persian music in the West and is now a creative force in today’s music scene. He has studied the music of Iran’s many regions and toured the world as a soloist with various ensembles and orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de Lyon.
The group comprises musicians who blend Persian and Indian musical traditions that for centuries have been historically, geographically and culturally intertwined. The ensemble will be playing a set of rare instruments including the santour, the tabla and the sitar, combining both classical precision and creativity.
As both Indian and Persian classical music are characterized by their microtonal and monophonic structures as will as their dependence on improvisation, both traditions feature a master musician who uses a primary melodic form as a base for improvising.
The group explained that there are many factors involved in a musician’s understanding of and approach to music. Each musician’s schooling, personal style, technical ability and vision have a great impact on their approach to developing their musical ideas. These differences make every performance exciting, fresh and unpredictable, every time the pieces are performed.
To help the audience better understand the ethnic music, CCM will also organize a pre-show talk presented in English by Mexican musician Raul Saldaña.  The session will take place one hour prior to the concert, where the speaker will share insightful views on Kalhor’s background and repertoire with special focus on world music and instruments.