“Sacred Music of Kurdistan,”
Ali Akbar Moradi and Pejman Hadadi
Ali Akbar Moradi and Pejman Hadadi, two renowned musicians from Rojhelat, made a rare New York appearance on November 23, 2024.
Moradi is a virtuoso of the tanbur, an ancient two-stringed long-necked fretted lute traditionally used in religious ceremonies. Hadadi is an innovative percussionist (tombak, daf); he has been a member of the Dastan Ensemble for over 25 years and collaborated with countless master musicians in world traditions.
Their program, Euphoric Whispers: Improvisations for Tanbur and Percussion, featured ecstatic and trance-inducing Kurdish music from Rojhelat. Their improvisations are based on the repertoire of the Yarsan people (followers of a mystical faith associated with Sufism) and on this region’s beautiful and complex art.
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“Love, spirituality, intoxication with the divine and the power of music… With one string providing a drone, everything else rides on a single string of the tanbur, and in Mr. Moradi’s hands, that string encompasses an expressive universe.” – New York Times
“The masterful Hadadi delivers an astonishing array of sounds.” – Los Angeles Times
This event is a coproduction between Robert Browning Associates and Lotus Music & Dance.
