19 July 2009

Persian Classical Music at Melba Hall

On Saturday 25 July at 8.00 pm the Mehr Ensemble will give a performance of Persian Classical Music at the Melba Hall, Conservatorium of Music, Melbourne University.


The Mehr Ensemble was founded in Tehran in 1999 by Pooya Mehmanpazir. The aim of the ensemble is to study and perform to a high standard Persia’s ancient Radif musical systems. They have been working for the last twelve months putting together two different repertoires based on ancient Persian modal systems and are now ready to share their work with their audiences.


The composition of the ensemble varies with the music being performed. On this occasion we will see Pooya Mehmanpazir on the tar (plucked lute) and setar (three-stringed sitar which originated in Persia), Mehdi Merzaei on vocals, Samira Karimi on kamanche (spiked fiddle which is the ancestor of most Western bowed instruments; the kamanche and the violin are tuned in the same way, but have different timbres due to their different shaped sound boxes) and setar, and Toofan Toghyani on dayareh (frame drum or tambourine), daf (a large frame drum with rows of internal metal rings, which may have been used in Sufi ceremonies), and neh (end-blown flute).

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