A Night of Rumi and Classical Persian Music with Kayhan Kalhor February 2, 2012

Kayhan Kalhor is a master musician in the classical Persian tradition. His intricate melodies accompany the poetry of Rumi, sung in the haunting beauty of the original language. He also improvises instrumental pieces. This music inspires contemplation and meditation, linked through poetry to Sufism. The beauty of this music lies in the free-flowing melody lines, often compared to the designs of Persian carpets and miniature paintings.

Three-time Grammy Award nominee Kalhor is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso on the kamancheh, who through his many musical collaborations has been instrumental in popularizing Persian music in the West and is a creative force in today's music scene. His performances of traditional Persian music and multiple collaborations have attracted audiences around the globe. He has studied the music of Iran's many regions, in particular those of Khorason and Kordestan, and has toured the world as a soloist with various ensembles and orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de Lyon.

He is co-founder of the renowned ensembles Dastan, Ghazal: Persian & Indian Improvisations and Masters of Persian Music. Kalhor has composed works for Iran's most renowned vocalists Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Shahram Nazeri and has also performed and recorded with Iran's greatest instrumentalists. He has composed music for television and film and was most recently featured on the soundtrack of Francis Ford Copolla's Youth Without Youth in a score that he collaborated on with Osvaldo Golijov. In 2004, Kalhor was invited by American composer John Adams to give a solo recital at Carnegie Hall as part of his Perspectives Series and in the same year he appeared on a double bill at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, sharing the program with the Festival Orchestra performing the Mozart Requiem. Kalhor is a member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project and his compositions appear on all three of the Ensemble's albums.

Official Website: http://www.ciis.edu/publicprograms