Monday, October 15, 2007

Central Asian music and poetry event

Spiritual Sounds of Central Asia:Nomads, Mystics and Troubadours
Alim Qasimov Ensemble, The Bardic Divas, Badakhshan Ensemble
Wednesday, October 24, 8 pm, Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Some of the world's most ancient and mysterious music and epic poetry comes to Ann Arbor in a remarkable concert featuring 18 of Central Asia's greatest singers and musicians, many of them appearing in the US for the first time. Performed against a backdrop of vibrant projected images, this concert includes artists from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kalmykia.

Showcasing some of the most exotic musical traditions on the planet, the concert includes the legendary mugham singer Alim Qasimov (Silk Road Project) in a program of riveting duets with his daughter, Fergane, accompanied by a four-man ensemble; trance-inducing mystical songs based on texts by classical poets Rumi, Hafez, and Nasir Khusrow, performed by the seven-person Badakhshan Ensemble; and the once-taboo, all-female ensemble, Bardic Divas. This multi-media performance includes supertitles and a two-camera live-video feed that projects close-up images of the musicians, as well a brief documentary film preceding each performance group.

check out http://www.ums.org/ for ticket info.