(headline image: Kayhan Kalhor © Liudmilla Jefferies for Morgenland Festival Osnabrueck)
Iranian kamancha virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor will return to New York City for a rare performance of Persian classical music at The Town Hall on Sunday, November 30, at 7 p.m. The appearance marks his first large-scale Persian classical concert in the city in more than a decade.
Joining Kalhor on stage are Montreal-based setar master Kiya Tabassian and U.S.-based percussionist Behrouz Jamali. Tabassian, also a composer and singer, is the artistic director of Montreal’s Centre des Musiciens du Monde, which he co-founded in 2017 to foster cross-cultural dialogue through music. Jamali, a leading tombak player, works additionally as a producer and documentary filmmaker.
Kalhor, a Grammy Award winner, has long been a central figure in both Persian classical and world music. He was an original member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project, co-founded The Masters of Persian Music with Mohammed Reza Shajarian and Hossein Alizadeh, and formed the Grammy-nominated Persian-Indian ensemble Ghazal with sitarist Shujaat Husain Khan. His collaborations span ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet, Brooklyn Rider, the New York Philharmonic, and artists including Toumani Diabaté and Erdal Erzincan.
Earlier this year, he premiered Venus in the Mirror, a double concerto for kamancha, cello, and orchestra, with Yo-Yo Ma and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in Hamburg, Germany. The work reflects the shared lineage of the kamancha and cello, instruments Kalhor describes as deeply connected.
For the Town Hall concert, Kalhor emphasizes the spiritual and cultural depth of Persian classical music. “We come from a venerable culture that has made profound contributions to the world,” he notes. “Through my music, I hope to reveal the splendor of my homeland. When people connect through music, the space opens for dialogue, awareness, and discovery.”
Born in Iran to a Kurdish family, Kalhor was a child prodigy who joined the Iranian National Radio and Television Orchestra at age 13. His studies took him from Iran to Italy and Canada, where he immersed himself in both Persian and Western classical traditions, shaping a career that has redefined the role of Persian music on international stages.
Kalhor emphasizes that “our music is not religious, but it is deeply connected to Iranian philosophy and mysticism, and this makes it a spiritual music. This concert is pure music,” he adds, “it doesn’t have anything to do with politics or social matters. As musicians, our mission is to tell the story of our culture.”
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central