"Helhela" - YASNA
A musical encounter of cross-fertilization between the Persian and the European spirit with an unique atmosphere given by the extremely wide stylistic palette: from ancestral music to Bach-like harmonic structures, from deeply ritualized archaic music to contemporary and jazz sounds, from rigor to free improvisation, with acoustic and electro-acoustic instruments on the verses of the renowned Persian poet Omar Khayyam
A search for a live balance between order and indetermination, a permanent and dynamic sound exploration of the iconic distance, an alchemy of rhythms and sounds distilled into the tunes of an infinite and timeless East.
Featuring
Andrei Kivu (France/Romania) - cello
Calin Grigoriu (Romania) - guitar
Cristi Horia (Romania) - violin
Ali Asghar Rahimi (Iran) - tanbour, vocals
ANDREI KIVU
Romanian cellist, born in Bucharest on July 26, 1970.
Graduated of the National Music Academy of Bucharest, he attended the improvisation master-classes of George Lewis (professor at the “Columbia University”), the master-classes in "Advanced Composition and Muscal Analysys" by Aurel Stroe and numerous harmonic singing master-classes/workshops/retreats with David Hykes in New York, Paris and Bucharest. He has been an “Artist in Residence” in Mons, Belgium (2000) and Royaumont, France (2013).
Andrei Kivu performed as a soloist accompanied by Orchestre Royal de Wallonie (Mons, Belgium), The NYU Orchestra (at the Lincoln Center, New York, USA) the Polish National Radio orchestra and Katowice New Music Orchestra (Warsaw, Poland), Romanian National Radio Chamber Orchestra, Romanian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, “Philharmonia” Orchestra, “Traditions Musicales Francaises” Orchestra and many others.
His music and performances were live broadcasted on WNYC (New York), Radio Suisse Romande – Lausanne, S.D.R.S. – Bern (Switzerland), ORF 1 (Austria), Radio Warszawa (Poland), Helsinki 1 (Finland), Radio France, Romanian Radio and many others.
He has an extremely wide range repertoire: from Gregorian to contemporary music.
Andrei Kivu has a teaching experience of more than 25 years, the most important being the collaboration with the NYU (guest professor in 2003, 2005, 2007) and with the “Givat Ram” Music Academy of Jerusalem, Israel (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2019) and The Royal Conservatory of Madrid (2018).
He won numerous prizes and distinctions such as the “2003 award by the I.N.M.C. (International Consortium of New Music) for “Outstanding Activities as Performer, Teacher and Music Organizer (NYU, New York, U.S.A.), the 2004 “Excellency Prize" by the “Musical Actuality” magazine, the “2006 UNITER Prize” 2006, the Originality Prize of the Cluj Jazz Festival (2005) and the “2002 Uchimura Prize” (from “UNESCO”).
Andrei Kivu is a founder and member of the “Pro Contemporania” ensemble (1989), founder and member of the “Free Sound International Ensemble” (2002), member of “Hyperion” ensemble, co-Founder (2004) and Artistic Director of “MultiSonicFest” (the only festival in Romania devoted to improvisation and fusion/cross-over music). In 2018 he founded “Paracelsus Duo”, together with the exceptional guitarist Calin Grigoriu.
Since 2001 he is a member of the “International School of Ki” (London) and since 2007 he is a member of “Harmonic Presence Foundation” (New York).
Andrei Kivu. appears as a soloist and/or guest star on more than 25 CDs and DVDs, with a wide international distribution, the most important being the collaboration with the prestigious label “Mode Records” (New York, USA). He recorded hundreds of hours as a soloist and/or with his ensembles, for the Romanian Radio and other radio-stations world-wide.
He has been extensively touring in Japan, USA, Canada, Israel, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Austria, Poland, Pakistan, Albania, Greece, Finland, Sweden, Denmark.
He had the privilege to play/study/record/work with great artists, such as: David Hykes, Sigfried Palm, Claude Delangle, Daniel Kientzy, Martine Joste, Alejandro Iglesias Rossi, Evan Parker, George Lewis, Leonor Leal Chamorro, Juerg Solothurnmann, Franziska Baumann, Chris Cutler, Tim Hodgkinson, Byron Wallen, Stephane Gallet, Agnes Baltsa, Sarah Brightmann, Nanae Yoshimura, Kifu Mitsuhashi, Teodora Enache Brody, Yoshiki, Ali Asghar Rahimi.
Andrei Kivu is the first Romanian cellist to play all 6 Bach’s Suites for solo cello in one concert (Paris, 2009). He is also the first cellist in the world to transcribe and play Bach’s Sonatas & Partitas for violin.
Andrei Kivu. is the only Romanian cellist ever to be invited to play at the Royal Festival Hall (London), Lincoln Center (New York), Onassis Cultural Center (Athens), Wiener Konzerthaus (Vienna), and to great festivals such as "Wien Modern” (2002, Vienna, Austria), "Warsaw Autumn" (2003, 2007 - Poland), the" ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music) – World Music Days” (1999, 2003, 2006), Parramasala (Sydney, Australia).
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CALIN GRIGORIU
Romanian musician, classical and electric guitarist, arranger & composer.
He studied guitar at the National University of Music Bucharest in the class of Master Ion Mihaiescu - a professor who shaped him musically, helped him expended his musical universe by intensive chamber music classes and gave him the meaning and understanding of the instrument, without which (according to his own opinion) it would have been impossible to approach a diversity of musical genres. In 2008 he finished his studies with a Master Degree in Chamber Music.
In 2001 he had the chance to be part of Catalina Buzoianu's project, Odyssey 2001, and from there the world of theater opened up to him. He has a career full of interesting collaborations with Horatiu Malaele in "Leonce and Lena", Gelu Colceag in "A dream in the middle of summer", Teodora Herghelegiu in a musical based on Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and as well as other independent artists and theatres.
In 2008 he joined the Mozart Rocks project, an extraordinary opportunity to perfect his orchestral writing techniques, where he was not only the soloist in a large number of concerts both in the country and abroad, but he also wrote the orchestral arrangements. A similar collaboration, that confirms his authentic professionalism born out of passion, was the one with the renown guitar player Steve Vai and the Evolution Tempo Orchestra with whom he toured worldwide in 2013.
In addition to personal projects, such as "Calin Grigoriu Electric Trio" - dedicated to the art of electric guitar and improvisation, "Autumn Baroque Trio" (with Cezar Cazanoi - flute and Calina Epuran - cello) - a tribute to baroque art through the spirit of chamber music, Duo Paracelsus (with Andrei Kivu - cello) - a real tour de force through musical eras, from Vivaldi to Debussy, from Bach to Enescu, he has a rich list of collaborations, arrangements and composition of theater music, recording and performing sessions with pop, rock and jazz artists, the most important being the one with Teodora Enache with whom he has been playing and recording for several years, their collaboration being essential for the crystallization of her musical ideas.
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CRISTI HORIA
Cristi Horia is a graduate of the National University of Music Bucharest, Violin Department.
A musician with a rich musical experience, he performed in symphonic and chamber music concerts as well as in jazz, jazz-rock and electro-acoustic concerts. He was a member of "Renaissance" Group and "Solaris" string quartet with whom he had an extensive concert activity of over 10 years.
Since 2007, he has been constantly collaborating with Mihai Mărgineanu, both as a violinist and as a music producer.
In 2008 he took his first step in jazz when he released "Zona Limită" album together with Cornel Cristei, and from there his musical options diversified towards contemporary styles and fusions.
Between 2009 and 2017, he was part of the duo project When Violin Meets Guitar, a harmonious rapprochement between classical music and rock by twinning two instruments with common resonances and origins.
In the recent years, his interests have also reached the music composition field,. He composed or collaborated in the following projects: "Las Fierbinti" TV series, "Yesterday, Today, tomorrow" TV Show, Vergura (2016-2019), Museum of Intentions project (2017-2019), etc.
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ALI ASGHAR RAHIMI
Persian Sufi / Mystical music composer, Master of the Tanbour and vocalist. Former student of Master Seyed Amrollah Shah Ebrahimi and Master Taher Yarveysi, he has been composing, researching, teaching and performing Persian spiritual music and ancient Maqams of Tanbour for over 25 years.
His mastery of instrumental technique and Persian musical language, his original creativity and the deep knowledge of Maqam repertoire have helped him create a new and distinct style in the Persian Sufi music by blending emotion and spirituality with innovative techniques of composition, improvisation and performance.
Rooted in a rich and ancestral heritage, his music - profound, spiritual, compelling, entrancing - draws inspiration from the poetry of great mystical poets Mawlana Jalaludin Rumi, Omar Khayyam and Ain-al Quzat Hamedani. Skillfully combining ancient Maqams of Tanbour, complex free-flowing melody lines and soul-stirring poems sung in a soft yet powerful and deep vocal style, he creates tapestries of sound, word and emotion that touch the heart and inspire contemplation and meditation.
His artistic work has offered audiences around the globe a deeper appreciation of Persian Sufi music and poetry. As a solo artist, accompanied by his Ensembles or joined on stage by some exceptional foreign musicians, he performed in Lebanon, Turkey, Nepal, Morocco, Qatar, Russia, UK, Finland and extensively in Romania where, for the past 5 years, he has been exploring, creating and developing diverse innovative projects and creative musical collaborations with well-known musicians such as Mircea Kiraly, Attila J Szabo, Calin Grigoriu, Andrei Kivu, Cristi Horia, Maria Chifu, Izabela Barbu, Grigore Lese.
For full biography click HERE. For more information please visit the website www.aliasgharrahimi.net
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