Thursday & Friday, Sept. 16-17, 2010 • The Music Gallery presents
SHIRAZ ENSEMBLE
New World series
First-ever Persian music concert at the Music Gallery!

Araz Salek (Toronto) — tar
Fariba Davodi (Halifax) — voice
Saeed Kamjoo (Montréal) — kamanche
Shahin Fayaz (Toronto) — rubab, tar-bass
Pedram Khavarzamini (Bordeaux, France) — tombak

Doors 7pm, concert 8pm
Tickets $25 regular, $20 member, senior + student
Or $20 advance at IAUT (Iranian Association at the University of Toronto, iaut.org), Pegah Books (5513 Yonge St.), Shawrak Music (11 Steeles Ave. E.) + online at TicketWeb — BUY NOW!

Shiraz Ensemble was formed in Toronto in 2007 by Araz Salek and Saeed Kamjoo, who recognized a need for a permanent Iranian music group in the area — one which would maintain the highest of traditional Persian musical standards of musicianship and singing. Moreover, they wanted Shiraz Ensemble to reflect cutting-edge developments in instrumental playing, singing and composition, as they are being developed by Persian musicians in the global diaspora. Shiraz Ensemble advances these ideals and aesthetic goals by hiring some of the foremost artists from across Canada and around the world.

Ever since its inception, Shiraz has kept active. The group has performed concerts in Toronto, Richmond Hill, Ottawa and Montréal. In recent months, Shiraz has commenced work on “Carpet of Dreams,” an exciting new community and young peoples’ outreach project in collaboration with the Mississauga Chambre Music Society. While they are ranked among the younger generation of Iranian master musicians, each of Shiraz’s performers has already developed a career both in the country of their birth, as well as in Canada and on international stages where their music is appreciated. Each Shiraz artist has released albums.

Shiraz performs compositions by the established Iranian composer and musician, Mohammad Reza Fayaz, and these two pieces, Dar Gozar and Nava, mark a major contribution to Persian classical music repertoire. With a 20 year career as an important fresh voice in Iranian composition, Fayaz’s set of songs stretches the boundaries of conventional Persian idioms while at the same time clearly respecting a profound connection to its ancient roots. These new compositions go well beyond the accepted traditions in several ways. The multi-rhythmic as well as the polyphonic nature of the pieces make them very unique.

Araz Salek (Toronto) — tar
Born in 1980 in Tehran, Iran, Araz Salek started playing the tar (Persian lute) at the age of eight under the instruction of the maestro Tofigh Iranparvar. He further studied Iranian classical repertoire, vocal and instrumental radifs under the supervision of the acknowledged master tar players Hooshang Zarif, Arshad Tahmasebi and Hossein Omoumi.

Salek began teaching at the Iran Music School in Tehran in 2000, and served as a private music teacher at the University of Tehran. The following year he was invited to teach at Sharif University for two years. As a performer, Salek gave numerous solo tar recitals at the University of Art, and at Sharif University, both in Tehran. He also played concerts with the Nava and Hazaar Ensembles in Tehran.

In 2007 he co-founded the Shiraz Ensemble in Toronto, which has already made its mark in numerous concerts in Ontario and Québec halls and festivals. He led Shiraz in its first three-city Canadian tour early in 2009, in which concerts he was also its tar player. He released his first and critically-acclaimed solo CD Birth in 2008, and has continued to be very active as a musician, performing regularly in “alternative” Toronto venues such as the Tranzac and Somewhere There.

Fariba Davodi (Halifax) — vocals
Immigrating to Canada in 2010, Fariba Davodi has enjoyed instructions of various maestros of Persian classical music such as Hengame Akhavan and Mohsen Keramati. After years of hard work and studying with different teachers, in 1998 she began to study Persian vocal repertoire with grand maestro Mohammad Reza Shajarian. Fariba established the Avaye Mehr musical institution in Tehran in 1999, and has taught many students since then. Davodi, has performed regularly at the very prestigious concert halls in Tehran with many popular musicians, such as Majid Derakhshani, Jalal Zolfonoun, and Masoud Shoari.

Saeed Kamjoo (Montréal) — kamanche
Saeed Kamjoo, born in 1965 in Tehran, is a Persian musician and composer, who immigrated to Montréal in 1997. He started learning the kamanche (Persian bowed lute) at the age of 17 under the supervision of maestro Ardeshir Kâmkâr, furthering his studies in Persian classical music under the guidance of Ali Akbar Shekârchi and Ustad Asghar Bahâri. He graduated from the School of Fine Arts at Tehran University in 2007. Kamjoo's style of kamanche playing is deeply rooted in values inherent in classical Persian music. Most recently, he co-founded the Namâd Ensemble, dedicated to the performance of innovative Persian music.



Shahin Fayaz (Toronto) — rubab, tar-bass
Shahin Fayaz, born in Tehran, Iran in 1971, studied music in Tehran conservatory music and Tehran Music University. He had played with so many ensembles such as Aftab, Bahar and others. He also used to teach in Tehran before his immigration to Canada in 2005, and after that he was actively involved in performing at concerts and festivals in Montreal and Toronto. Currently he teaches at Shawrak music school in Toronto, and is a permanent member of Shiraz Ensemble.

Pedram Khavarzamini (Bordeaux, France) — tombak
Pedram Khavar Zamini, one of the world’s foremost Iranian tombak players, has been living in France for a few years now. He started to learn playing the tombak alongside masters Kamyar Mohabbat and Bahman Rajabi. He founded his own percussion-tombak group, Varashan, and released his debut album Koutah. Thanks to his rhythmic knowledge and technique, he soon collaborated with important classical Persian musicians such as Sharam Nazeri, Dariush Talai, Kayhan Kalhor and Ali Akbar Moradi. From 2002-04, he performed several concerts in U.S with Kayhan Kalhor’s Ensemble, and in Germany with George Petrov and Ross Daly.