March 27 – 28, 2021, Lost In the Desert Sky: Kayhan Kalhor Ensemble In Memory of Mohammad Reza Shajarian

An Exclusive Concert Event by the legendary Kayhan Kalhor

honoring the legacy of Mohammad-Reza Shajarian.

Exclusive Southern California World Premiere

March 27 – 28, 2021

Part of Farhang Foundation’s Annual Celebration of Nowruz

Beautifully produced under the artistic direction of Master Kayhan Kalhor, featuring all-new music by master Kalhor in memory of the passing of beloved Iranian singer and cultural icon Mohammad-Reza Shajarian. Special guests include the stage debut of Hadi Hosseini.

Click here to watch the Video:

 

The concert takes place in the singularly spectacular location of the Mahinestan House – which dates back to the Qajar Dynasty – in the ancient desert city Kashan, an important stop on the magnificent silk road that is full of history. The passing of Iran’s most beloved and admired vocalist M. R. Shajarian in October 2020 has left a country in mourning and an acute emptiness in the musical landscape of Iran. Shajarian’s voice was loved by over a hundred million Persian-speaking people and music lovers worldwide. He was considered a national hero and his songs and legacy are permanently and indelibly embedded in Iranian culture.

Lost In The Desert Sky: Kayhan Kalhor Ensemble In Memory of Mohammad Reza Shajarian was produced by Isabel Soffer and The Generators in partnership with Kayhan Kalhor

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About Kayhan Kalhor

Iranian-born Kayhan Kalhor is one of today’s most in-demand artists and a creative force in Iran and around the world. He is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso on the kamancheh (spiked fiddle) and on the setar (long-necked lute), who through his many musical collaborations has been popularizing Persian music around the world and is considered one of the most important ambassadors for Iranian music and culture. He is a master of the Iranian classical repertoire (radif) which he learned in the traditional manner yet he is well versed in many music traditions around the world. Kayhan has a degree in music composition and he is a prolific and heralded composer and arranger for both Eastern and Western music styles.

He has accumulated a faithful fan base, which shows in his social media channels (Facebook 337k, Instagram 876k fans). A child prodigy on the kamancheh, Kayhan was born in Tehran to Kurdish parents and began his musical studies at the age of seven. At thirteen, he was invited to work with the National Orchestra of Radio and Television of Iran, where he performed for five years. When he was seventeen he began working with the Shayda Ensemble of the Chavosh Cultural Center, the most prestigious arts organization in Iran at the time. He has traveled extensively throughout Iran, studying the music of its many regions, in particular those of Khorasan and Kordestan.

Kayhan has toured the world as a soloist with various ensembles and orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de Lyon, Chicago Symphony, Orlando Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Dresdner Sinfoniker, and others. He co-founded the renowned ensembles Dastan, Masters of Persian Music, and Ghazal with Indian sitar maestro Shujaat Khan; he has composed works for Iran’s most renowned vocalists Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Shahram Nazeri and has performed and recorded with Iran’s greatest instrumentalists. His music for television and film includes the soundtrack of Francis Ford Copolla’s Youth Without Youth, with Osvaldo Golijov. Bahman Ghobadi’s Rhino Season, Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, Ken Burns’ The Vietnam War, the BBC’s Mohammed and more.

Kayhan is an original member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project with whom he continues to compose for and tour with. His compositions appear on all of the Ensemble’s albums including the 2019 piece The Prince of Sorrows. His most recent albums include Silent City, a collaboration with celebrated chamber ensemble Brooklyn Rider, and I Will Not Stand Alone with santoor player Ali Bahrami Fard and It’s Still Autumn with Rembrandt Trio.

Kayhan has been nominated for five Grammys and in 2017 was awarded a Grammy with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (2017). In 2018 he was awarded the prestigious Isaac Stern Human Spirit Award; in 2019 he was presented the Womex Artist Award and in 2020 he was presented the globalFEST Artist Award, both for his contributions to the worldwide musical landscape.