A Traditional Persian Music Concert by the Renowned European-based Iranian Musician and Composer KHOSROW SOLTANI

As a leading artist in both the European and Iranian musical traditions, Soltani is a master of European and Iranian contemporary and ancient woodwind instruments.  He will be in Los Angeles to perform his own compositions for traditional Iranian woodwind instruments such as ney, balaban and sornay at LACMA's Bing Theater on January 28th.   The concert, sponsored by Farhang Foundation and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, will be a rare event and an enchanting evening of Persian music. He will be accompanied by the talented Rowan Storm on dayereh and daf, as well as special guest artist Mehrdad Arabi on percussion.

Soltani is visiting the U.S at the invitation of Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra to perform in their Songs of Hope concert project on January 23rd in Sacramento, performing the solo part in Reza Vali's Concerto for Ney.  Dr. Vali who is a professor of Musicology at Carnegie Mellon University and a highly regarded contemporary composer wrote the piece for Soltani.  The Los Angeles premiere of that piece was nationally broadcasted on American Public Media in March 2009 and was underwritten by the Farhang Foundation.  The Sacramento concert is expected to be attended by many official dignitaries.

FREE tickets will be available ONE HOUR prior to the start of the Gusheh bé Gusheh performance at the LACMA box office, starting at 6 p.m. Show starts at 7.

To learn more about all of these special programs at LACMA and the Farhang Foundation, please visit www.farhang.org.   Media inquiries are welcome.

About Khosrow Soltani
Khosrow Soltani was born in Tehran and has been living in Austria since 1974. He studied in Tehran's conservatory and finished his degree as a bassoonist in 1971. From 1971-1974, he played bassoon as a regular member of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra. In October 1974, he began his bassoon studies at the Hochschule fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria, with Karl Oelberger. He finished his degree with honors three years later. He has been a member of Les Menestrels, a Viennese ensemble of early music, since 1976. He has also recorded and toured the United States and Canada with the Clemencic Consort and Musica Antiqua  Wien. He studied recorder with Hans Maria Kneihs, finishing his degree in 1984. Soltani began performing on the Persian ney in 1979, appearing with many different ensembles. In 1984, he founded Shiraz, an ensemble for Persian music, with which he has played many concerts at various European festivals.  In addition, Soltani has recorded for the WDR, the NDR, and France Musique, among others. Also a composer, Soltani's Ancient cal a new, Great Hahur, and Salut del amore are available on commercial CDs.

About Mehrdad Arabi
Internationally acclaimed Master of Persian music, Mehrdad Arabi has received numerous awards for his work from the likes of Daytona Symphony Society, University of Borneo, the City of Madrid and the City of Nicosia in Cypress. He was recently awarded the prestigious Master Musician Fellowship from the Durfee Foundation in Los Angeles. Arabi began studying Tombak as a teenager with the renowned Morteza Ayan & Nasser Eftetaah. In addition to Tombak and Daf, he is proficient in the Kemanche and Violin. Arabi is one of a handful of musicians who has studied both the traditional and the contemporary approaches to the Tombak and utilizes both in his compositions as a soloist as well as an accompanist. His signature style of Tombak playing is clear and crisp. Arabi has participated in more than 20 recordings as a performer, composer and arranger. The highlights of this collection are his recordings with two of the legends of Persian music, Hassan Kasaie and Jalil Shahnaz, with whom he has also appeared in concert. He has also recorded sound-tracks for Hollywood films including The Passion of Christ, Hidalgo and Helen of Troy. He has composed the score and played a full orchestra for the first Iranian American cartoon in the United States, Babak's First Norooz.  www.persiandrums.com

About Rowan Storm
Rowan Storm is recognized internationally for her command of Middle Eastern percussion instruments and music, her Essential Frame Drum Method workshops and Carpet Concerts, and singing in several languages. Rowan has studied and performed with many world-renowned musicians, including the great Master of Classical Persian music, Mohammad Reza Lotfi. Originally from New York, Rowan has been living in Greece since 1993. Her performance venues include New York City's Lincoln Center, San Francisco's Asian Art Museum, Greece's Epidavros ancient amphitheater and Istanbul's Resit Rey Concert Hall. Researching the role of women and drumming in traditional spiritual practices, while in Iran in 2006 Rowan met with women dervishes to play daf in their rituals. Rowan's signature Frame Drum, the Rowan Storm Dayereh, is featured in the Artist Innovation Series by Cooperman Drum Company. www.rowanstorm.com

About Farhang Foundation
Farhang Foundation is a non-religious, non-political and not-for-profit foundation established in 2008 to celebrate the art and culture of Iranian-Americans in its widest extent. The foundation supports academic activities in Southern California by funding university programs, publications and conferences. The foundation also supports cultural programs such as celebration of Nowruz and Mehregan, theater, dance performances, films screenings and poetry reading in Southern Californioa. Farhang Foundation, in cooperation with various cultural and academic institutions plans major programs and exhibitions about Iran and its culture. For more info visit: www.farhang.org.

About LACMA
Since its inception in 1965, LACMA has been devoted to collecting works of art that span both history and geography-and represent Los Angeles' uniquely diverse population. Today, the museum features particularly strong collections of Asian, Latin American, European, and American art, as well as a new contemporary museum on its campus, BCAM. With this expanded space for contemporary art, innovative collaborations with artists, and an ongoing transformation project, LACMA is creating a truly modern lens through which to view its rich encyclopedic collection.  For more info visit: www.lacma.org.

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