Forbidden Echoes: New Iranian Music at the Muziekgebouw
Western and Persian instruments will merge, creating new sonic worlds in pieces such as the new commissioned work, Towards Affinity, specially written for us by young composer Nader Adabnejad. In Concerto for Viola and Santur (2024) by Tehran-based Golfam Khayam, our violist Michael Gieler and santur player Kioomars Musayyebi take centre stage. Parts of Khayam’s work will be alternated with parts from Forbidden Echoes, a moving song cycle by the Berlin-based Kurdish composer/singer Hani Mojtahedy, written in collaboration with Andi Toma (from the renowned German electronic dance duo Mouse On Mars). Ian Anderson created a new arrangement for us. In Forbidden Echoes, Hani Mojtahedy incorporates her personal stories as an exiled artist.
The region historically known as Persia boasts a long and rich musical tradition that is constantly evolving. Years of oppression have always alternated with periods in which connecting to Western cultures was encouraged. After the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79, most public music performances were forbidden. In present-day Iran, the dissemination of music is controlled by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and the state broadcaster. Nevertheless, Iranian musicians all over the world, including within Iran itself, still succeed in enriching the world with remarkable new music.
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On 2 and 3 October 2025, the Concertgebouworkest will perform another work by Golfam Khayam, I am not a tale to be told, with Barbara Hannigan as both conductor and vocal soloist.