Rohaab Ensemble - Persian Classical Music

Following the tremendous success of the Persian Music concerts the Pharos Arts Foundation presented in 2014 and 2015, the Foundation, in collaboration with the Embassy of Iran in Cyprus, presents again this year another evening of Persian Classical Music featuring the Rohaab Ensemble on traditional instruments: Tanbur, Ney, Daf, Percussion, Tar, Setar, Oud and Kamanche.

The classical music of the Persian culture reflects the deep sadness of brutal invasions, the complex beauty of nature, and fusion with a higher power of existence. Persian classical music has evolved as a fluid expression of the social and cultural values proudly embodied by the Persian people, as demonstrated by the musical theory system, the role of music in Persian culture, and the creation process of musical performance. With the foundational establishment of Islam as the national religion of Persia in the seventh century, a significant fusion of Arabic and Persian music took place, including instruments, musical terminology, and theoretical principles. As Persian cultural values and beliefs have evolved over time, Persian classical music has simultaneously been transformed. Often associated with the deep, complex, and profound poetry of the great Persian poets, Persian music embodies the penultimate expression of the human soul. Gradually, the Persian classical music was raised to a mystical art, highly prized for its unification with a superior power of existence. The modernization and westernization of Iran have not only changed the structural components of Persian music in many ways, but have also exposed the art to the world. As people listen to this mysteriously beautiful Persian art, they attain some type of hal-state where the “world becomes transfigured, unveiling its marvellous images, and across an ineffable transparency… offers itself to the direct comprehension of every being capable of sensing.”

ROHAAB ENSEMBLE
Seyed Bijan Madani / Tambour, Ney, Vocals
Miyad-nik Farjam / Daf & Percussion
Mohammad Reza Amou Javadi / Kamanche
Hedayat Kalari / Tar, Setar, Oud

The music of the four-member Rohaab Ensemble has been greatly influenced by the music of the Alawites and the Alevis of Anatolia and the Zagros Mountains of Iran. Using this great and rich music tradition as a vehicle, the Ensemble has furthermore adjusted it to more novel music devices in order to develop a rather structured improvisational form, which does not diverge nevertheless from the authentic and fundamental characteristics of Persian Classical Music. As part of its activities, the Ensemble has researched on the connection between music, the ancient mystical schools of thought and Tambour, which is considered an Ashik instrument in some parts of Iran. The Rohaab Ensemble has long established itself in Tehran and many other Iranian cities, and in recent years, it has increasingly gained a reputation abroad for its distinctive and mystically enchanted performances, introducing the rich musical culture of their country to audiences worldwide.

Tickets: €15 / €10 Concessions & members of the Pharos Arts Foundation, Box Office: Directly from the Foundation’s website www.pharosartsfoundation.org/Tickets_online.htm or Tel. 9666-9003 (Monday - Friday 10:00am-3:00pm)