The Nawranj Iranian Association proudly present Asia Without Borders, a multi-cultural musical experience that aims to capture the essence of Chinese, Iranian and Indian classical music, to portray the unity and connection of people across the globe. Artists include Maestro Hossein Behroozinia, Reza Manbachi, Amir Manbachi, Naghmeh Farahmand, Ed Hanley, Xiao Dong Wei and Ariel Balevi. In the spirit of giving back to their community, all proceeds of this concert will be donated to MS patients of the Kahrizak Charity Foundation.
Asia Without Borders aims to make a global connection by uniting the classical stories and sounds of China, Iran and India in a magical fusion of musical ideas supported by outstanding players and enhanced by storytelling in both English and Persian.
Tehran-born composer and Barbat player Maestro Hossein Behroozinia learned his craft from such great masters as Reza Vahdani, Mansour Ebrahimi (Nariman) and Mohammad Reza Lotfi. A member of the celebrated ensembles Mowlana and Aref, he also joined Dastan Ensemble in 1992. He has performed on all the released works of Dastan Ensemble since then, as well as on numerous albums of many celebrated Iranian composers. He has extensive teaching experience at the Tehran Conservatory of Music and the Center for Preservation of Music, and has now established classes in Persian music in Vancouver, Canada where he currently resides.
Persian-Canadian musician and composer Reza Manbachi started learning Tar and Setar at the age of nine, under the instruction of maestros Dariush Pirniakan, Hamid Motebassem, and Tofigh Iranparvar. Among Reza’s many collaborators are maestro Motebassem, maestro Behroozinia, professor Trichy Sankaran, and his brother Amir Manbachi, with whom he established the Persian classical ensemble Chakavak in 1998. Their debut album The Journey of Love garnered critical acclaim locally and internationally.
Amir Manbachi is a Persian-Canadian, semi-professional musician who started learning Tombak from his early childhood and continued under the supervision of Maestros Arzhang Kamkar, Arash Farhangfar, Madjid Khaladj and Behnam Samani. A co-founder and a long-term performer of Chakavak Ensemble, he picked up various skills and theory from his brother Reza as well as popular jazz drummer, Gregg Brennan. Amir has been honored to perform with accomplished musicians including maestros Hossein Alizadeh, Hossein Behroozinia, Kayhan Kalhor, Hamid Motebassem, Hamid Reza Nourbakhsh, Siamak Jahangiri, Roozbeh Rahimi and Professor Trichy Sankaran. In addition to Tombak, he also plays Tar and is familiar with Persian music repertoire (Radif).
Naghmeh Farahmand began playing Tombak at the age of six, under the supervision of her father Mahmoud Farahmand, himself a leading Persian percussion master. She continued studies in Kurdish rhythms on Daf with Bijan Kamkar and Masoud Habibi and other influential teachers such as Faramarz Payvar and Pashang Kamkar who introduced her to playing Santoor. Naghmeh has had performances in in Iran, Jordan, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, France, Italy, Kuwait, and Austria with Persian classical ensembles such as Hannaneh, Mehrbanu, Shahrzad, Mehrava, and Bahar. She has also had the opportunity to perform with Hengameh Akhavan and Hasan Nahid in music festivals in Europe and Asia. She was the founder of Sharghi and is currently an ongoing teacher of Tombak and Daf.
Ed Hanley began his Tabla (north Indian classical percussion) training in Toronto with Ritesh Das in 1989, and has since studied with master drummers Swapan Chaudhuri, Anindo Chatterjee, and Subhajyothi Guha. His interest in Indian classical rhythm led him to study outside the Hindustani Tabla tradition, focusing on Karnatic (south Indian) vocal percussion and drumming traditions with master mrdangists Karaikudi Mani and Dr. Trichy Sankaran. Ed is co-artistic director of award-winning, world music pioneers Autorickshaw Ensemble, which has done extensive Canadian touring, hitting many major festivals as well as international performances in New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Sweden, and at world renowned festivals in Kolkata and Rajasthan. Autorickshaw recently completed a six-week tour of Europe, including performances in London, Belfast, Prague, Hamburg, Amsterdam and Paris.
Xiao Dong Wei was born in Jixi China and began studying Erhu with her father at the age of five. She continued mastering Erhu under the instruction of Professor Zhang Shao, Feng Zhihao and Zhang Yuming. She has performed with the China Motion Picture Orchestra and she has been invited to perform in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles , as well as being a guest soloist for Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Southern Great Lake Symphony. Now based in Detroit and with three solid albums to date, Xiao Dong is currently a music advisor at the University of Michigan Residential College. She has also been a guest lecturer for University of Michigan and Wayne State University.
Montreal-born storyteller Ariel Balevi derives his repertoire from the literary and folklore traditions of Iran, Turkey (his ethnic root), the Middle East and Central Asia: the Shahnameh, the Haft Paykar, the Masnavi of Molavi (Rumi), and Hezar o yek Shab (Thousand and One Nights). With performances in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa as well as Washington DC, he was also invited for two performances at the prestigious Tirgan Festival 2008. Fueled by his interest in cross-cultural storytelling as well as the interaction between literary and oral traditions, he strives to present the universality of these narratives, in a way that is both respectful and celebrates the traditions in which they were developed.
This is a chance for you to hear some very talented artists in a classic mix of musical sounds. Do not forget that all proceeds will be donated to the Kahrizak Charity Foundation.
The event takes place Friday, March 11 @ 8:00 pm at the Richmond Hill Centre For The Performing Arts (10268 Yonge St., Richmond Hill). Tickets range from $25 – $35 – $40 sold at various venues. You can call 647-407-2543 for more details or visit the event’s website for full details.