PASSAGE TO DAWN
World Premiere Concert of Persian and Azeri Music
Virtuosi Hamid Motebassem, Pejman Hadadi and
Imamyar Hasanov
North American Tour January 8 - January 24, 2010
Date: Saturday January 9th, 2010
Venue:Address: the 4th Stage, NAC
Ticket Sales: NAC Box Office, Arya, Alpha, Shiraz
Ticket Prices: $30
Press Contact: Ottawa Persian Radio, 613-889-4700
Website: www.dastan.net
Passage To Dawn marks the first collaboration between master musicians, Hamid Motebassem
(Setar) and Pejman Hadadi (Percussion) of the celebrated Dastan Ensemble, the leading
contemporary classical music ensemble of Iran, and Imamyar Hasanov (Kemancheh), a
dynamic virtuoso from Azerbaijan. With this new collaboration, the artists explore
the surprising commonalities as well as variations between the two age-old musical
traditions of Iran and Azerbaijan, marrying the two distinct styles into one sound,
which echoes tradition yet is fresh and innovative. The repertoire of this evening’s
purely instrumental music ranges from fixed compositions to structured as well as
pure improvisation invoking a wide array of feeling, from quietly meditative to ecstatic.
With Passage To Dawn, the artists seek to re-establish the power and beauty of instrumental
music. Beyond the constraints of words and specific meaning, instrumental music goes
directly to the heart and takes the listeners on a journey into the unknown where
their minds come to a stillness and their hearts fly. “Our aim”, says Pejman Hadadi
“is to create a dialogue that opens a window between our hearts and the hearts of
the listeners so we come in touch with the One Heart.” In the words of the great
Persian Mystic poet,
There is a window between heart and heart
They are never separate like two bodies.
Passage to Dawn refers to the current times of chaos, upheaval and darkness in our
world that will eventually deliver us into the Light if we focus our collective intention
and utilize this negativity to work diligently towards spiritual evolution for All.
Our world is collapsing in its old form and rebirthing itself and we are active participants
of this rebirthing. It seems embedded in the structure of Universal Law, that the
process of re-birthing follow a Dark Night of the Soul. Our world is going through
this Dark Night of the Soul, and it will come into Light. Emphasized in this picture
is the specific circumstances in Iran and how the artists see that process also as
the last efforts of the powers of darkness and ignorance to exercise their diminishing
and dying force.
Passage To Dawn emphasizes the power of music to uplift and inspire hope, inviting
people to live up to their ideals and take action based on these ideals. Through
the power of beauty and the sublime, the musicians intend to raise the vibration
of stagnancy, anxiety and fear that is running through our world today to that of
positive action, trust and love. Their music will serve as a reminder that humanity
is capable of great feats of beauty through dedication, focus and living from our
hearts. And this capability when put into action will deliver us from the chaos and
the darkness into the light.
Based in Holland, Hamid Motebassem is the founder of the Society of Tar and Setar,
and a founding member of Dastan Ensemble, “one of the “most-forward looking Persian
music ensembles.”(LA Weekly). He studied in the Tehran School of Art and The Conservatory
of Persian Music. Both a virtuosic Setar and Tar player and a celebrated composer,
Hamid’s acclaimed compositions are featured on countless albums of classical and
contemporary Persian music including some of the award-winning albums of Dastan Esemble.
Pejman Hadadi is world-renowned as one of the most innovative Iranian percussionists.
A two-time recipient of the prestigious Durfee Foundation Master Musician Award,
he is a founding member of the highly acclaimed percussion ensemble ZARBANG and Dastan
Ensemble. Based in Los Angeles, Pejman has performed with the most celebrated Persian
musicians including Shahram Nazeri and Hossein Alizadeh. “Hadadi delivered a mighty
Tombak solo that had the whole house out of their seats and yelling.” (LA Weekly)
The award-winning Kemanche player, Imamyar Hasanov based in the Washington DC area,
started as the youngest soloist in Azerbaijan's National Music Orchestra. He has
a Master's Degree in Music from the Azerbaijan State Conservatory. A dynamic virtuoso
who performs Azerbaijani and Middle Eastern traditional improvisations as well as
Western classical music, he has performed with Chingiz Sadykhov, Ross Daly, Svetlana
Aliyeva Rahman Asadollahi and Hosein Omoumi, Hakan Tokerramong others.
