The Skirball Cultural Center presents a live performance by the mesmerizing Iranian duo Niyaz, featuring vocalist Azam Ali and multi-instrumentalist Loga Ramin Torkian. Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as "mystical music with a modern edge," Niyaz-which means "yearning" in both Farsi and Urdu-blend medieval Sufi poetry and folk songs from their native Iran with acoustic instrumentation and modern electronic rhythms. The result is a distinctively twenty-first-century global trance sound that crosses not only stylistic and cultural boundaries but generational ones as well. The music is enhanced by Ali's rich, plaintive vocals and by conscientious, spiritual lyrics that explore the plight of immigrants and minority ethnic and religious groups. Niyaz-who from the beginning have strived to create social and political awareness through their work-use the beauty of their music and the artistry of their lyrics to speak out against injustice and oppression.
Created in 2004, Niyaz released a self-titled debut album in 2005, introducing their groundbreaking fusion of traditional Persian music with elements of electronica and trance. Since then, the now Montreal-based group has delivered three more full-length albums, including the recent The Fourth Light (2015). The new record-praised by MTV Iggy as "musically varied and rhythmically complex"-is inspired by the surviving poetry fragments of the early Sufi saint Rabia al-Basri, and features Ali singing in multiple languages, including Farsi, Dari, Turkish, and Urdu. The band will play tracks from The Fourth Light at the Skirball performance.
For more information about programs at the Skirball, call
(310) 440-4500 or visit
skirball.org.
The Skirball Cultural Center is dedicated to exploring the connections between 4,000 years of Jewish heritage and the vitality of American democratic ideals. It welcomes and seeks to inspire people of every ethnic and cultural identity. Guided by our respective memories and experiences, together we aspire to build a society in which all of us can feel at home. The Skirball Cultural Center achieves its mission through educational programs that explore literary, visual, and performing arts from around the world; through the display and interpretation of its permanent collections and changing exhibitions; through an interactive family destination inspired by the Noah's Ark story; and through outreach to the community.
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