San Francisco (California), USA – The San Francisco World Music Festival 2005 will celebrate its Sixth Anniversary September 26 – October 16, 2005 with 6 Main Stage concerts:
October 1, Saturday, 8:00 PM
Ross Daly Ensemble
Coming to the Bay Area from Crete, legendary master musician and composer Ross Daly makes his US debut at the San Francisco World Music Festival. Having dedicated the past 30 years to the exploration and teaching of traditional Cretan music, Daly is recognized for his genius as a composer, music innovator and arranger of traditional instruments from around the world. Ross Daly will perform lyra, saz, and rebab, joined by three great virtuosi, Kelly Thoma (lyra), Periklis Papapetropoulos (saz & lauto) and Pejman Hadadi (Persian percussion).
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, 701 Mission Street, San Francisco
Box Office: 415-978-2787
$18, $22, $28, $36October 2, Sunday, 7:00 PM
The Nowruz Project (world premiere)
The centerpiece of Festival 2005 is the “Nowruz Project”, a festival commissioned world premiere created as an international music experiment and an artistic statement for global peace. Combining traditional and newly composed music, poetry, dance, and film, this production is led by a core group of traditional artists from abroad as well as those rooted in the Bay Area’s Middle Eastern and Central Asian communities. Featuring Azerbaijani pianist Chingiz Sadykhov, Azerbaijani kamancheh soloist Imamyar Hasanov, Afghani dutar and rubab player Aziz Herawi, Persian ney master Hossein Omoumi, Persian percussionist Pejman Hadadi, Kurdish singer Ozden Oztoprak, composer Ross Daly; Kurdish filmmaker Nizamettin Aric, Kurdish community leader and poet/singer Mustafa Kart, Kurdish dance group Koma Gowend and Bay Area lighting/scenic designer Matthew Antaky – the binding thread in bringing them together is the observance of the vernal equinox of Nowruz, whose pre-Islamic origins are embraced in
different ways throughout the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, 701 Mission Street, San Francisco
Box Office: 415-978-2787
$18, $22, $28, $36
October 8, Saturday, 8:00 PM
Women Singers of the World
Seven women singers from around the world display their vocal virtuosity, from Dona Rosa, a blind fado singer from Portugal and Gulare Azafli and Zülfiyye Ibadova, two women Ashuq singers direct from Baku, Azerbaijan, to a diverse group of singers from several continents, including Kurdish vocalist Ozden Oztoprak, Armenian vocalist Barbara Chookasian, Chilean vocalist Lichi Fuentes, and Ukrainian vocalist Mariana Sadovska. This program also features a 15-minute short film presented about the music and life of the blind Taiwanese legendary singer Yang Xiu Qing, filmed and edited by Michael Santoro especially for the festival.
Brava Theater, 2781 24th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Box Office: 415-647-2822
$25
October 9, Sunday 7:00 PM
Dona Rosa, Gulare Azafli & Zufiyee Ibadova
Presented in association with Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center
An up close and deeper look at three overseas singers making their US debuts…Dona Rosa is a blind fado singer who previously earned her living by selling magazines, lottery tickets, and by begging, until the day somebody suggested she use her beautiful voice as a means of livelihood. And so there
emerged on the streets of Lisbon, Portugal a singer who sensitively translated her bitter fate into music. Also on the bill are Gulare Azafli and Zülfiyye Ibadova, two Azerbaijani Ashug vocalists previously unknown to Western audiences, giving a rare glimpse into the Ashuq song style, which is a
predominantly male genre. Prior to their performance there will be a lecture about Azeri music, presented by Aida Huseynova, an ethnomusicologist coming from Baku, Azerbaijan.
Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center. 1317 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley
TicketWeb: 866-468-3399
$18 General, $15 Student
October 15, Saturday, 8:00 PM
Chinese & World Percussion
Master Wang Wei, percussionist on the soundtrack of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, and several Bay Area master drummers from different parts of the world, including Faisal Zedan, stir up an electrifying evening of traditional and experimental percussion from China, Middle East, and Africa.
Brava Theater, 2781 24th Street, San Francisco
Box Office: 415-647-2822
$25
October 16, Sunday, 7:00 PM
Festival Closing Event Featuring Cemali, Tamras Tamras & DJ Amar
Presented in association with the Croatian American Cultural Center of San Francisco
The Festival closes this year with a celebration featuring Cemali, led by two brothers who are super-stars in their home country of Turkey. Cem and Ali are consummate musicians, singers, composers, poets and arrangers of their own music. Their progressive musical sense has actually made them Turkey’s first alternative pop group in it’s history. Tamras Tamras, a talented Assyrian singer
from Iraq who excels in singing in five languages, will join Cemali. DJ Amar will spin music from South Asia and beyond…Be ready to dance and move!
Croatian American Cultural Center of San Francisco, 60 Onondaga Avenue, San
Francisco
Tickets at Door
$15, $25
6 Community Outreach events:
September 26, Monday, 7:00 PM
Nowruz Lecture
Presented in association with Community Music Center
Erach Taragore from the Bay Area Zoroastrian community will talk about the cultural aspects of Nowruz from the Zoroastrian perspective, one of the world’s oldest religions. A perfect introduction to the festival commissioned “Nowruz Project” (world premiere) on October 2.
Community Music Center, 544 Capp Street, San Francisco
FREE
October 3, Monday, 7:00-8:00 PM, Lecture; 8:30-10:30PM Workshop
Ross Daly Lecture/Demo & Workshop
Presented in association with Community Music Center
Ross Daly is recognized as one of the greatest composers and performers of Cretan and Greek music. In this lecture demonstration and workshop, he plays and talks about his vision and the creative process for arrangements and performance of Cretan music and the music of the Mediterranean. Workshop participants will learn about the music theory of Crete and receive hands on instrumental instruction.
Community Music Center, 544 Capp Street, San Francisco
Reservations: 415-561-6571
$35
October 5, Wednesday, 7:00 PM
Alice Fong Yu School Residency
Led by genial Nigerian master musician, Ken Okulolo, artists from the Nigerian Brothers ensemble will be in Residence at Alice Fong Yu Alternative School. They will teach the school’s Advanced Chinese Percussion Troupe the traditional folk music from West Africa. The students will present a concert for the community highlighting what they have learned in the Residency. Ken Okulolo and members of
the Nigerian Brothers will also perform.
Alice Fong Yu School, 1541 12th Avenue, San Francisco
FREE
October 9, Sunday 1:00 – 4:00 PM
Youth World Music Showcase
Presented in association with Asian Art Museum
Featuring Bay Area’s young people, ages 5-17, these students of master teachers explore their musical heritage in an afternoon showcase. Join us to hear Alice Fong Yu Chinese Percussion Ensemble, Berfin Oztoprak singing Kurdish songs, Nejad Persian Music and Drum Ensembles playing traditional music from Iran, students of Capoeira Mandinga singing songs and playing berimbau from Brazil, Echo of the Motherland, a traditional Vietnamese youth ensemble, and Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu’s youth performing kahiko hula.
Samsung Hall, Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin Street, San Francisco
FREE with Museum Admission
October 11, Tuesday, 2:00 PM
UCSF Children’s Hospital Concert
Vladimir Riazantsev is Artistic Director of the Neva Russian Dance Ensemble in San Francisco. He is also the beloved artist of the former internationally renowned Moiseyev Russian Dance Theater where his comic roles brought him accolades. For this visit to the children’s hospital, he will bring his bayan, a Russian accordion, to delight the young patients and their families.
UCSF Children’s Hospital, 505 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco
For patients and families only
October 13, THURSDAY, 7:00 PM
A Closer Look at Kurdish Music
Presented in association with Asian Art Museum
Centering on Kurdish cultural and musical perspectives, Kutay Derin Kugay will demonstrate the many different styles of Kurdish music through video and CD recordings, covering various regions of music from Kurdistan of Iran, Syria, Turkey and Iraq. Members of the Kurdish community and musicians Ozden Oztoprak, Mustafa Kart, Kemal Parlak will participate. A brief history of Kurdistan will be presented.
Samsung Hall, Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin Street, San Francisco
$5 with Museum Admission
Venues & Tickets:
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater
701 Mission Street, San Francisco
Box Office: 415-978-2787
Brava Theater
2781 24th Street, San Francisco
Box Office: 415-647-2822
http://www.brava.org
Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center
1317 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley
TicketWeb: 866-468-3399
http://www.ashkenaz.com
Croatian American Cultural Center of San Francisco
60 Onondaga Avenue, San Francisco
Information: 510-649-0941
Community Music Center
544 Capp Street, San Francisco
Information: 415-647-6015
http://www.sfcmc.org
Asian Art Museum
200 Larkin Street, San Francisco
Information: 415-581-3500
http://www.asianart.org
Alice Fong Yu School
1541 12th Avenue, San Francisco
Information: 415-759-2764
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
