- artist:Khonyagaran
- event type:WOMEX 19 Showcase
- date:26 Oct 2019
- time:21:30 - 22:15
- city/area:Tampere
- venue:Theatre Stage, Main Auditorium, Tampere Hall
- country:Finland
- event posted by:Piranha Arts
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Although the sound of female singing has not been heard on the concert stages of Iran for some years, the Khonyagaran ensemble are ensuring that women’s voices are still present and articulately expressed through instrumental excellence.
Formed in 2016 by composer Behzad Abdi, with the aim of presenting new orchestrations for Iranian instruments based on the classical style, the ensemble of twelve female musicians and a male singer has gained a symbolic function as a result of socio-historic reasons. Since the days of the Parthian empire, music has always naturally been an inclusive art, albeit often subject to censure from holders of religious power. In ancient Persian texts, the term khonyagar is used to denote female songwriters and musicians. Today, the Khonyagaran ensemble are working to bring a feminist musicology to the masculine history of aesthetics.
Behzad Abdi - conductor
Hila Feizpour - tar
Targol Khalighi - ruba
Negin Zadehvakili - qeychak
Nazanin Roosta - qeychak bass
Samaneh Barooti - qeychak alto
Mehrnam Rastegari - kamancheh
Sheyda Ghaziesfahani - ney
Sedasadat Seyedinsodeyfi - qanoon
Bahareh Heydari - tar bass
Rokhsareh Rastamidarestani - oud
Mehrnaz Dabirzadeh - tombak, percussion
Fatemehsadet Malekzadeh - daf
Sponsor: Pardis Records