World Premiere of In Convergence Liberation with Hafez Modirzadeh and Ethel July 23, 2011

Bay Area saxophonist and musical theorist Hafez Modirzadeh presents an evening of seven original, intercultural works featuring acclaimed New York-based contemporary string quartet Ethel and guest artists representing Latin, Arab and Persian musical traditions. Based on concepts developed through more than thirty years of cross-cultural musical exploration, Modirzadeh applies his “chromodal” philosophy of music to both eastern and western traditions to create an entirely new suite called In Convergence Liberation. This draws upon American jazz and Persian dastgah heritages to represent an exciting new approach to cross-cultural musical collaboration, free of formal constraints, that layers the musical elements to create a new kind of harmonic blend. Modirzadeh’s current work with Ethel is a culmination of over two decades of devising original approaches to cross-cultural improvisation, orchestrated here with chamber-like pieces that include Persian percussion, Spanish tone poems, and Iraqi santur and maqam vocals.

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