Houbara - Resonanzen Iran 2024

Tag 1 - Golnar Trio | Elshan Ghasimi + Phillip Püschel | Aban Ensemble

In April, we present the second edition of Houbara - Resonances Iran. The 2-day festival sees itself as a place of exchange, new encounters and shared experiences. Houbara is dedicated to artists and ensembles who question genre boundaries, creating and exploring their own sound worlds. The focus is therefore on multi-layered, contemporary and boundary-breaking music with references to Iran.

Six different current projects can be experienced on the two festival evenings in the concert hall and at JAKI.

Programme 25.04.

19:00 - DIWAN: Panel discussion - What else are we doing here! (admission free)

20:00 - Golnar Trio
21:00 - Elshan Ghasimi & Philipp Püschel
22:00 - Aban Ensemble

About the festival title: The houbara is an Iranian endemic migratory bird that is threatened with extinction. The title also refers to "The Conference of the Birds" (منطق الطیر) by Fariduddin Attar - a great mystical poem that is one of the most important works of Persian literature. It describes the pilgrimage of thousands of birds of the world in search of an ideal king. In the end, thirty birds remain - and realize that they themselves are the king they are looking for.

Both days are curated by NICA artist Sophie Emilie Beha.
In collaboration with NICA artist development, Timcheh e.V. & DIWAN.

This way to Houbara - Resonances Iran Day 2

Golnar Trio

With a masterful and fresh approach to the art of musical storytelling, Iranian-Canadian vocalist and composer Golnar Shahyar combines elements of contemporary jazz, microtonal modes from Southwest Asia, polyrhythmic grooves, European chamber and experimental music to create an original sound. A sound that elegantly draws attention to a new generation of creatives in the European diaspora whose approach and cultural references challenge the usual notions of what contemporary music could/should be. Her trio with bassist Vinicius Ciccone Cajado and percussionist Amir Wahba improvises so confidently through structured compositions, powerful grooves and the most delicate sounds that you hardly notice the complexity of her music. A profound sound that deliberately breaks away from clichés and pigeonholes to merge into a genre-free space in which the power of musical storytelling is celebrated in an absolutely authentic way.

Elshan Ghasimi & Philipp Püschel

Shahnameh (engl. "Book of Kings") is one of the most famous works of world literature and tells the history and emergence of the Persian-speaking world. The newly formed duo Elshan Ghasimi & Philipp Püschel are now bringing this epic into the present day and developing a new concert format from it. Elshan Ghasimi is a singer and virtuoso of the Persian long-necked lute Tar. Philipp Püschel is a trumpeter and enhances his instrument with analog effects and live electronics.
Based on the "Radīf", the classical Persian art music, and inspired by the Shahnameh texts of the author Abū ʾl-Qāsim Firdausī (940-1020), the duo looks at the Eastern tradition from a modern perspective. Through jazz, free improvisation of tar and trumpet as well as electronic sounds, Ghasimi & Püschel want to enter into a common dialog with each other and the different cultures.

Aban Ensemble

A new quartet of four Iranian musicians (Mitra Behpoori, Sara Hasti, Roshanak Rafani, Farinaaz) presents the most diverse forms of traditional Persian music. It combines the various rhythmic and melodic characteristics of these forms with classical Iranian music (Dastgah). The musicians also play their own new compositions. With vocals and on traditional Persian instruments such as the spiked violin Kamantche, the long-necked lute Tar, the frame drums Daf and Tombak, which have long been rooted in Iranian music, they want to show how diverse the music of their homeland sounds. The name Aban means "protector of water" (formerly the name of a Persian goddess for water, purity and fertility) and denotes the eighth month in the Persian solar calendar.