Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater:

Please join us for a conversation with the Iranian Conductor and Pianist Sahar Nouri and Emruz Co-Curator Niloufar Nourbakhsh
Language: English Duration: 30 minutes Time: 8:00 PM EST | 1:00 AM GMT | 4:30 AM Tehran

Please join us via Zoom

Iranian conductor and pianist, Sahar Nouri returns to Opera Colorado in 2019-2020 for a fourth season, serving as the company's chorus master, assistant conductor and principal coach. Ms. Nouri is the newly appointed Music Director of Lamont Opera Theater at University of Denver. She is also on the music staff at the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Ms. Nouri's work with Opera Colorado has included the productions of: Il barbiere di Siviglia, La fanciulla del West, La bohème, Falstaff, La traviata, Le nozze di Figaro and the world premiere of Steal a Pencil for Me (by Gerald Cohen).

Previously, Ms. Nouri has been a member of the music staff at Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera North Carolina, Glimmerglass Festival, Utah Opera, Opera in the Heights, Aspen Opera Theatre, Opera Steamboat and Merola Opera.

At the Houston Grand Opera, where she was a member of the prestigious HGO studio 2014-16, Ms. Nouri worked on the world premieres of Prince of Players (by Carlisle Floyd), O Columbia! (by Gregory Spears), and The Magnificent Pretty Boy (by the Grant Wallace Band). She has also done many classic operas at HGO including: Eugene Onegin, Rusalka, Carousel, The Little Prince, Così fan tutte, Madama Butterfly, and Sweeney Todd. Ms. Nouri returned to HGO frequently as a guest coach for the studio program, YAVA (Young Artists Vocal Academy) and as a conductor for HGOco productions.

As a recitalist, Ms. Nouri has performed numerous concerts across the nation including: with Matthew Polenzani at Denver Art Museum Gala, with Mane Galoyan at Musical Bridges Around the World in San Antonio, and with Houston Grand Opera studio artists at the Reinzi Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.

A multi-lingual coach, Ms. Nouri has studied in the Czech Republic, Italy, and Austria and is frequently in demand as a language coach. She holds graduate degrees from of the University of Michigan, where she studied with Martin Katz, and from Arizona State University.

Ms. Nouri is a former violinist who has performed with Tehran Philharmonic Orchestra and has won several prizes, for both violin and piano, in national music festivals and competitions in Iran. 

Niloufar Nourbakhsh Described as “stark” by WNPR and “darkly lyrical” by the New York Times, a winner of the Second International Hildegard competition and a 2019 recipient of OPERA America’s Discovery Grant, Niloufar Nourbakhsh’s music has been performed at numerous festivals and venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center. A founder and director of Iranian Female Composers Association, Nourbakhsh is a strong advocate of music education. She is currently a Teaching Artist Associate for composition students of N.Y. Philharmonic’s Young Composers program and teaches piano at Brooklyn Music School, while finishing her doctorate at Stony Brook University.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater:

Please join us for a conversation with the artist Raha Behnam
Language: English Duration: 60 minutes Time: 6:00 PM EST | 11:00 PM GMT | 2:30 AM Tehran

Please join us via Zoom

Raha Behnam is an Iranian-born, Canadian-raised, US-based artist; a first-generation immigrant to occupied Indigenous homelands. She is the daughter of Iranian artists, Darab Behnam Shabahang and Mahvash Vatankhahi. Raha is concerned with systems and practices for collective healing, and engaged in liberation work through community-based counseling. 

Her performance work has been presented at Danspace Project (Food for Thought), The Wild Project (the CURRENT SESSIONS), the Knockdown Center (Sunday Service), Performance Studies international 2017 conference (Hamburg), FRESH Festival (San Francisco), and Figure One Gallery (Illinois). She has performed in the works of Abby Crain, Tino Seghal, and Jessie Young, as well as performed for Pearson/Widrig DanceTheatre. Currently, she is working with Zavé Martohardjono as a collaborator on a project set to premiere at Gibney Dance in the Fall of 2020. 

She is a member of the Future Historical Society, lead by Yazmany Arboleda, a collective that honors the legacy of Ft. Greene residents. In 2019, she was selected to participate in NYFA's Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program.  Raha holds a Master's in Urban Planning and Bachelor's degrees in Dance and Anthropology. She is a certified Open Source Forms (OSF) facilitator, under Stephanie Skura's tutelage.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater:

Please join us for an experimental performance by the Theater Director and Emruz Co-Curator Shadi Ghaheri in collaboration with Julian Elijah Martinez, Patric Madden and Jake Ryan Lozano.

People need Theatre?

Do they?

They need it the way they need each other. They need it to gather, to talk things over, to have stories in common, to share Friends and enemy.

I don’t think that’s true any more!

But what is theatre to us? What is definitely not theatre…

If we knew the answer, we would know wether to plead for its survival, [pause] or not.

Language: English Duration: 20-30 minutes Time: 4:00 PM EST | 9:00 PM GMT | 12:30 AM Tehran

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Shadi Ghaheri is a director and choreographer from Tehran, Iran based in New York. She has directed Lucretia (HERE), Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Williams College), Shahr-e-Farang (Spectrum NYC) The Girl is Chained, Death of Yazdgerd, Titus Andronicus, and choreographed Passion (Yale School of Drama). Other Credits, The Slow Sound of Snow (Yale Cabaret). She co-curated a four-play season, directing The Trojan Women, and Lear (Yale Summer Cabaret). Shadi holds an MFA in directing from Yale School of Drama and a BA from Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University, where she was the first female president of the University Theatre Club. There, she directed Art and Stranger walking in my room. Shadi was a 2016 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow and the 2017-2018 directing fellow at Rattlestick Playwright Theatre.

Emily Jo is a movement artist, dancer and choreographer, in Brooklyn, NYC. She earned a BFA in Modern Dance Performance from the University of Oklahoma in 2014, and after moving to NYC attended the José Límon Professional Studies Program, and has performed internationally and in collaboration with JKing Dance Company, Caitlin Cullen Dance Company, SEARCY, Idgy Dean, DMC, House of Yes, Cantata Profana (director, Shadi Ghaheri), and The Borscht Collective, of which she is a founding member. EJ co-produced the 2nd annual Perspective Exchange showcase in Denver, Colorado, in which she showcased her solo work, Your gaze hits the side of my face. She continues to explore, collaborate, and create work that aspires to find sovereignty in relationships, and strengthen our connections to one another through sensations and emotion. In concert with her movement practice, EJ studies the Tarot, meditation, and interpersonal energy work. (ig: @emily_jo52)

Roxanne Young, a native of Denver, CO, trained at her mother's studio, Expressions of Dance and Arts Academy and at the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance School. She attended the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, TX where she was a member of the Repertory Dance Company I. In 2006, Ms. Young was a Finalist for the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts in Modern Dance, which was held in Miami, FL. After high school she continued her studies at the University of Utah, joining the Department of Modern Dance. In 2010 she joined the Dallas Black Dance Theatre II and in 2011 Ms. Young joined the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble as a member of the Second Company and was promoted to the First Company after one season. After being an apprentice for a season, Ms. Young had danced with Elisa Monte Dance, under the direction of Tiffany Rea-Fisher in 2016. In addition to dancing with Elisa Monte Dance, Ms. Young performed for AThomasProject, Bloodline Dance Theater and nathantrice/RITUALS Dance Theater in New York.

Jake Ryan Lozano is an actor/dancer based in Brooklyn, NY. Previous affiliates include: Signature Theatre Company, Olney Theatre Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Chautauqua Theatre Company, and Great River Shakespeare Festival. M.F.A. Yale School of Drama. B.F.A. University of Oklahoma. National Irene Ryan Acting Award recipient at the 2014 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Film: Life After You. Television: Evil, When They See Us, New Amsterdam.

Julian Elijah Martinez Broadway: Network. Off-Broadway: Alligator (New Georges); and Mud (Boundless Theater Company). Selected Regional Credits: Father Comes Home From The Wars Part 1,2,3 (c/o production with Yale Rep and American Conservatory Theater); The Square Root of 3 Sisters (Dmitry Krymov Lab);  9 Circles (Forum Theatre); The Hampton Years (Theater J);  Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, (Chesapeake Shakespeare Company). Television credits include Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Prodigal Son, Elementary, High School Lover, and Madam Secretary. Film Credits include: Dominant Species (short) and Swimming (upcoming).  Martinez received his MFA from Yale University.

Patric Madden I'm a performer based in Brooklyn. I also direct, teach, write, devise, facilitate, read tarot cards ... I grew up in western Massachusetts running around in the woods with my brother Luke and pretending to be a wizard. I found my way to Brown University, where I acted in lots of shows and directed a few. Then I had a wild three years at the Yale School of Drama! I think that play can bend people out of the habit of their daily lives — disturb them, delight them, put them more deeply in touch with themselves and pique their curiosity about other selves. It's a turbulent time and a vital one to attend the relationship between art and justice. I don’t see the two as separable and am committed to conversations and practices that enable deep collaboration.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Present

Tehran -based Choreographer Hiva Sedaghat along with her collaborating artists Mitra Ziaeekia and Amirhossein Taqavee will join us for a session of conversation and video-showing.

Language: Farsi/English Duration: 45 Minutes Time: 2:00 PM EST | 7:00 PM GMT | 10:30 PM Tehran

Please join us via Zoom

Hiva Sedaghat Is a choreographer, dancer, and performer based in Tehran. Hiva has been part of various creations both as performer and choreographer inside and outside of Iran. She was studying architecture when she became familiar with contemporary dance through an underground workshop in Tehran, and because of her passion in this field, she participated in various workshops, masterclasses, intensive programs, and laboratories in Iran, Lebanon, Turkey, Europe and most recently in New York. She continues her journey in the field of contemporary dance and performance art with “MaHa Dance Projects,” also, she choreographed and performed her first solo dance piece in the Body Movement Festival of MaHa, a dance festival in Tehran. She also choreographed and performed two duet dance pieces that she presented in numerous festivals. She has participated in many international artist residencies and has a strong passion for collaboration and the exchange of ideas with different cultures and background artists around the world. Now she is continuing her journey as a freelance experimental artist with researching, experiencing, improvising, traveling, and creating new ideas through her body, sound, and writing.

Mitra Ziaeekia is a dancer, choreographer, director, and actor based in Tehran. She has studied theater and drama. Mitra has collaborated and performed with many theater groups. Working in the field of the physical theater changed the course of her career and therefore she was drawn to contemporary dance. Because of her passion for the human body and movement, she started to partake in numerous dance workshops, courses, and laboratories both in Iran and abroad. She is constantly striving to develop her physical and mental skills and get to know the approaches of other dancers, choreographers, and teachers by exchanging ideas and interacting with them. Mitra has choreographed and performed two dance solos, gave dance performances in various events and projects with Iranian and international groups, and performed in one dance collaboration. She has also choreographed and directed two duets and participated in numerous festivals. She is the executive manager of Maha Dance Projects. Having organized one festival and two events in Tehran, the group is holding workshops and courses on a regular basis, also choreographing, giving performances, and collaborating with other groups. At present, Mitra is doing research, studying, and writing in order to find her personal artistic expression and realize her own ideas using sounds, dialogs, music, and images.

Amirhossein Taqavee was born in Tehran in 1989. During his undergraduate in architecture at Shahid Beheshti University, he realized his incompatibility with any definition and medium, and in the middle of his master's in theater at the University of Sooreh, with the confidence in the validity of this sense, he also left the theater community. By writing two story collections and a few short films, he sets out on a quest to express the unknown imagination, he always struggled with by confronting with the phenomena, requiring a higher speed and less manipulation to come out and become. A way to escape the limitations that are lost in the form of title, medium, technique, and definition that disrupts this discovery process. A way to take care of himself from the picture of himself. Painting for him is where the confrontation between him and his work is happening every moment. He constantly exposes himself to new forms emerging from the past by constantly destroying the shapes that are emerging.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Present

We will be sharing of a video of Layla Farahbakhsh on Instagram

Time: 2:00 PM EST | 7:00 PM GMT | 10:30 PM Tehran

Please join us in Instagram @emruzfest.nyc

Layla Farahbakhsh is a drag performer, organizer, and woodland creature.  Layla’s drag persona, Majnoon, is heavily influenced by Layla’s mixed Iranian and Cuban background, wildlife, and mythology.  Drag is an incredible art form that brings together storytelling, makeup, and costuming in front of a live audience. 

Instagram: Majnoon_Raccoon

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Present

Please join us for a session of conversation with Pirronne Yousefzadeh and Tara Ahmadinejad
Language: English Duration: 60 minutes Time: 8:00 PM EST | 1:00 AM GMT | 4:30 AM Tehran

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Pirronne Yousefzadeh (She/Her/Hers) is a director, writer, and educator, and was recently appointed Associate Artistic Director and Director of Engagement at Geva Theatre Center. Additionally, Pirronne is a founding member of Maia Directors, a consulting group for artists and organizations engaging with stories from the Middle East and beyond. 

Recent projects include the world premiere of Kid Prince & Pablo by Brian Quijada (The Kennedy Center), A Doll’s House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Once (Pioneer Theatre Company, the world premiere of Heartland by Gabriel Jason Dean (Geva Theatre Center), Utopia Minnesota by Meg Miroshnik (2016 Sagal Fellowship, Williamstown Theatre Festival), That High Lonesome Sound (Actors Theatre of Louisville; 2015 Humana Festival) and We Are Proud To Present A Presentation... by Jackie Sibblies Drury (InterAct Theatre Company). Her productions of The Dangerous House of Pretty Mbane by Jen Silverman (InterAct Theater Company) and In The Blood (Theatre Horizon) together received a total of fifteen Barrymore Award nominations, including Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Overall Production for both. And If You Lose Your Way, or A Food Odyssey (Invisible Dog) received nominations for Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding Performance Art Production from New York Innovative Theatre Awards. 

Tara Ahmadinejad
Tara is a NY director, originally from Philadelphia. She has directed/co-created shows with Piehole since its founding in 2008. Outside of Piehole projects, Tara develops and directs new plays, and teaches and directs in educational settings. She recently directed Lunch Bunch by Sarah Einspanier as part of Clubbed Thumb's Winterworks, is developing Emily Black is a Total Gift by Daaimah Mubashshir with music by Julia Sirna-Frest and Shane Chapman, and is directing Leap and the Net Will Appear by Chana Porter, produced by New Georges in June 2019. New Georges Affiliated Artist; NYTW Usual Suspect; MFA: Columbia University.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

Sina Pooresmeil, In Progress, Video on Instagram
Time: 6:00 PM EST | 11:00 PM GMT | 2:30 AM Tehran

Please join us on Instagram @emruzfest.nyc

Sina Pooresmaeil is a New York City-based actor/writer hailing from Northern Virginia. Currently pursuing an MFA in Acting at Columbia University. Previous television credits, High Maintenance. Previous stage credits, Twelfth Night (Columbia University), Spin by Adam North, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (Wallis Studio Ensemble), and S.O.S (Wallis Studio Ensemble).

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Present

Please join us for a conversation with Dr. Kimia Hesabi and Kimia Jamshid of YASNA Ensemble
Language: English Duration: 60 minutes Time: 2:00 PM EST | 7:00 AM GMT | 10:30 PM Tehran

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Dr. Kimia Hesabi is a violist and an educator based in the Washington D.C area. An active chamber musician, Ms. Hesabi is the founder of YASNA Ensemble. This ensemble performs contemporary compositions and arrangements that are inspired by Middle Eastern music. In her DMA dissertation project, “Viola from Iran: Continuing and Expanding the Trajectory of a Rich Cultural History,” Ms. Hesabi has performed, researched, and recorded an album of several commissioned and premiered works for viola by Iranian composers. In addition to performing, Ms. Hesabi is an active teacher and clinician in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and is currently on the string faculty at the International School of Music in Bethesda, Maryland. Recent clinics include a workshop, masterclass and performance on Iranian contemporary music at the American University, Katzen Art Center. Upcoming performances will be a lecture-recital at the American Viola Society Festival and a solo recital at the International Viola Congress. Ms. Hesabi is the recipient of the prestigious Thomas Fellowship from the University of Tennessee and the Dean’s Fellowship for Academic Excellence from the University of Maryland and holds degrees from University of Tehran, Iran and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Kimia Jamshid was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. She began learning Tanbour at the age of 7 and Tar at the age of 9 from Master Keykhosro Pournazeri and later began working on new techniques on Tanbour with Sohrab Pournazeri. The Pournazeris are considered the most important contributors to the music of Tanbour and have set new boundaries on the music of Iran. In 2008, Kimia moved to the US and in October of that year, she performed with Shams Ensemble and the Pournazeris at the age of twelve for their first American tour in the US and again in 2013 and 2016 for their concerts in Tehran. Her most recent performance with Shams was in September of 2018 with the world-renowned singer, Homayoun Shajarian in the Konya Mystic Music Festival for Rumi’s birthday. Kimia began learning the cello at the age of 13 and was accepted into one of the finest art schools in the country, Duke Ellington School of the Arts in DC. Alongside her school’s string quartet, she had the pleasure of performing for First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for different occasions. Among her orchestra performances in high school are concerts with Earth, Wind, and Fire in 2010 and Sting in 2014. In the summer of 2015, she was accepted into the first Silkroad Global Music Workshop where she was able to perform alongside Silkroad Ensemble members and collaborated with musicians from all over the world. Kimia attended the University of Delaware where she studied cello performance with Dr. Lawrence Stomberg and was an active member of the university’s orchestra and chamber ensembles. In January of 2016, she was accepted into the university's study abroad program in London where she studied the history of London symphonies and also learned about the art of film music. She graduated in May 2018 with a Bachelor of Music degree. Kimia concluded her college orchestra career with an international tour to China where the orchestra had the opportunity to perform in prestigious concert halls of five cities in that country. Kimia was recently featured as a guest artist with the Melomanie Ensemble in Wilmington, Delaware where she showcased the music of Iran and gave a brief history and demonstration of tanbour. 

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater:

Director/Performer Deniz Khateri will be in conversation with actor Yekta Khaghani about the piece

Behold the Man
Language: English Duration: 20 minutes Time: 12:00 PM EST, 5:00 AM GMT 8:30 PM Tehran

Please join us via Instagram Live ( You will need your phone to view this) @emruzfest.nyc

Deniz Khateri (Director/Performer) Trained as a theatre artist in Iran, Deniz moved to the US in 2013 to experience a new world of art in America. As a playwright, her recent plays have been workshopped and performed at schools of the Boston area including Harvard Graduate School, University of Massachusetts and Boston University. As an actor, she has performed extensively in Tehran and Boston with theatre companies such as Arts Emerson, Nora and underground railway theatre, Bridge Repertory, Apollinaire, Boston Playwrights', Gardzienice theatre, etc. Deniz started her journey of an experiment wit her play “Cellos’ Dialogue” in Boston and the play made its New York Premier in January 2020 a year after she moved to New York. Her Award-Winning webseries“Diasporan” is currently available on YouTube. denizkhateri.com 

Yekta Khaghani (Actor) is an Iranian actor and playwright based in New York City. She earned a BA in Dramatic Literature from Tehran University of Art in 2009, an opportune moment in Iran’s thriving theatre scene, whereupon she directed and acted in a wide variety of plays. Since Yekta has moved to the US in 2016, she has created and acted in numerous theatrical performances for young audiences and has adapted the series Fairy Tales from Greater Iran for audiobooks and the stage. Her recent credits include: Directing the play “Cellos’ Dialogue” at the Exponential Festival in NYC and writing a documentary play named “T.B” under the residency at Downtown Art Theater. She reached a semifinalist at the 2020 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. 

Back in Iran, she was an active member of an underground theater group named, “Khane” meaning home, and with the current state of affairs between East and West, Yekta stands in a unique place to use her voice to bring the two closer. 

Bahar Royaee (Composer/Sound Designer) Born and raised in Iran, Bahar Royaee is a composer of concert and incidental music. Before learning and practicing the principals of music composition, Bahar Royaee, practiced electronic engineering, back in Tehran, Iran. The Boston Arts Review praised Bahar’s “haunting sound design” in her work with live the- atre. In 2017, Bahar was awarded from the Krourian Electroacoustic Competition in Iran and won the Roger Sessions Memorial Composition Award - the top composition prize at Boston Conservatory. She is the first recipient of The Walter W. Harp Music and Society Award, and the John Bavicchi Memorial Prize, both from Berklee College of Music. In the realm of concert music, Bahar’s compositions have been performed worldwide, includ- ing Italy, Greece, Iran, and the USA. Excited to be a part of Cellos’ Dialogue, she is pursuing a Ph.D. in composition from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. 

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater:

Designer Nima Farzaneh will be sharing his works via Instagram Live
Language: English Duration: 60 minutes Time: 8:00 PM EST, 1:00 AM GMT 4:30 AM Tehran

Please join us via Instagram Live ( You will need your phone to view this) @emruzfest.nyc

نیما فرزانه طراحی‌ست ساکن نیویورک که در طول سال‌های گذشته علاوه بر معماری که رشته اصلی اوست, در زمینه موسیقی، عکاسی، شعر و ادبیات طنز نیز فعّال بوده‌است. او موسیقی را از کودکی با نوازندگی پیانو شروع کرد و بعدتر نواختن آکاردئون را آموخت. نیما در طی ده سال گذشته در نیویورک با گروه‌های مختلف به عنوان نوازنده و آهنگساز همکاری داشته‌است. علاوه بر موسیقی او با  استفاده از ابزار‌هایی که شبکه‌های اجتماعی در اختیار قرار می‌دهند به تجربه‌هایی چند رسانه‌ای با فرم روایی کوتاه پرداخته است که به موضوعاتی همچون هنر، جامعه و سیاست اشاره دارند. او در حال حاضر مشغول به تحصیل در رشته مهندسی آکوستیک و طراحی و تولید یک پروژه “Immersive “ در لابراتوار مولتی‌مدیای CRAIVE در دانشگاه RPI در شهر Troy نیویورک با استفاده از تکنیک‌های سه بعدی شبیه سازی صدا و ویدئوی ۳۶۰  درجه می‌باشد

Nima Farzaneh is an Iranian designer, originally from Tehran, he has been living and practicing in NY for the last 10 years.  He started music at early ages by learning piano and later on accordion became his second instrument. After moving to New York City, Nima has taken part in various music projects as a performer and composer.  Utilizing the tools of contemporary social media, his recent experimentation with short-form narrative and multimedia comics have ruminated on society, politics, and art, with a unique approach to multiculturalism and global audience. Utilizing the story feature on Instagram, Farzaneh weaves multi-media collages which integrate film, photography, text, and animation.  He is currently producing an immersive experience project at RPI CRAVE lab in Troy, New York, which uses 3D sound simulation techniques and 360 video projection to be completed at the end of 2020. An architect by profession, he is also an artist working in music, photography, and poetry.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater:

Sara Meghdari: زن • (zan) Photo on INSTAGRAM
Time: 6:00 PM EST, 11:00 PM GMT 2:30 AM Tehran

Please join us via Instagram Live ( You will need your phone to view this) @emruzfest.nyc

Sara Meghdari (b.1988) is an Iranian-American artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Born and raised in Iran to an American mother and Iranian father, she later moved to the United States in 2004 to pursue her higher education. Meghdari holds a B.A. in Communication from the University of Colorado and an M.F.A. in Photography, Video & Related Media from The School of Visual Arts. She has been twice awarded the Alice Beck-Odette Scholarship Award as well as the Thomas Reiss Memorial Award and is an alumna of the Engaging Artists Residency Program with the More-Art Organization. She has performed at Chinatown Soup Gallery (2019) and her work has been shown at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center (2018), the 10th Annual Governors Island Art Fair (2017), and the Queens Museum of Art (2016), among others.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater:

Theater Director and Emruz Co-Curator Shadi Ghaheri will be in Conversation with the Theater Artist Juliana Frances Kelly on how to create a work that is entrancing.
Language: English Duration: 60 minutes Time: 3:00 PM EST, 7:00 PM GMT 10:30 PM Tehran

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"No matter how harsh the creation is you must give it as a gift"

"To create a world that is complete"

"To create a work that is entrancing" 

Juliana Francis Kelly has originated roles for many great writer/ directors in the U.S, Asia, and Europe, including Reza Abdoh (as a founding member of the internationally renowned Dar A Luz Company); Richard Foreman (in “Paradise Hotel;” “Bad Boy Nietzsche!”; “King Cowboy Rufus Rules the Universe” and “Maria Del Bosco” – for which she received an OBIE Award) and for Karin Coonrod, Bertrand Mandico, Anne Bogart, Young Jean Lee, Pavol Liska, and Kelly Copper, Lear DeBessonet, Normandy Sherwood, Hal Hartley, Theater of War, Marie Losier in collaboration with Guy Maddin, and David Michalek (for Lincoln Center Festival’s “Portraits in Dramatic Time.”) Ms. Kelly also writes plays and performances. Her plays include “The Reenactors”, directed by Tony Torn at Abrons Arts Center; “Go Go Go”, directed by Anne Bogart for PS 122, and reprised at The Institute of Contemporary Art for London International Festival of Theater; “Box”, directed by Torn and performed at The Women’s Project, PS 122; and The Fontanon Festival in Italy; and “The Baddest Natashas”, performed at The Ontological Theater and published by Open City Magazine. Her plays have been translated into Italian, Greek, German and Norwegian, and published in the U.S. and Europe. Ms. Kelly has designed and led theater workshops for The Liberian Cultural Association (Park Hill, Staten Island); for incarcerated youth and adults; and for theTrinity/LaMaMa semester in NYC program. She also builds mixed-media dolls, one of which resides in the American Museum of Natural History’s interactive educational wing.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater present

IFCA hosts an hour-long informal conversation with twenty of its members around the world to discuss creativity in the era of COVID-19.  These composers will be joined by the International Contemporary Ensemble’s production and communications coordinator, Bridgid Bergin as the roundtable’s moderator.  The conversation will be followed by a ten-minute Q&A open to the audience members and a live performance by sound artist and electronic music composer, Maryam Sirvan, based in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Language: English Duration: 90 minutes (50 minutes conversation, 10 minutes Q & A, 30 minutes performance) Time: 12:00 PM EST, 5:00 PM GMT, 8:30 PM Tehran

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Bridgid Bergin: As an ethnomusicologist, musician, writer, and arts administrator, Bridgid has a passion for the sustainment and preservation of the arts while creating connections to a larger cross-cultural network via various art forms. Her research has focused on Carnatic music, gender and music, and urban theory, questioning notions of space, place, and identity. She received her M.A. in Ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University in 2017. Bridgid currently works as the Production and Communications Coordinator for the International Contemporary Ensemble.

The Iranian Female Composers Association (IFCA) was established in 2017 by three female-identifying Iranian composers, Anahita Abbasi, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, and Aida Shirazi. IFCA’s mission is to support Iranian female composers throughout their careers and to inspire organizers and ensembles to commission female composers and engage with them for future collaborations. 

In 2017, Nourbakhsh started thinking of creating an association that builds a community between the first generation of active Iranian female composers, as she lacked a mentorship herself growing up in Iran. She started the work for the first concert to feature all Iranian female composers at National Sawdust and reached out to Anahita Abbasi and Aida Shirazi via social platforms. Their partnership grew and the three composers established IFCA together. IFCA currently has more than 40 composers as its members who live and work across the globe. Since 2017, IFCA’s music has been featured at numerous festivals and venues including the Direct Current festival in Washington, DC and Mostly Mozart Festival in Lincoln Center.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Present
Hengameh Fallah will be exploring a virtual performance called "hCG in Quarantine", performed by Rawya el Chab and Aline Salloum.
Language: English Duration: 20 mins Time: 8:00 PM EST , 1:00 AM GMT 4:30 AM Tehran
Please join us via Instagram Live ( You will need your phone to view this) @emruzfest.nyc

Hengameh Fallah, born in 1986, is a New York-based artist and the founder of Aasoo Performing Arts, a platform focusing on cultural exchange and social matters through art. She has directed a play-reading performance, “Partners In Crime” of Eric Emmanuel Schmitt in August 2018 at Gibney Studio, Manhattan, NY with the help of the Iranian Community of the Northeast (ICON), and funding from Citizens Committee for New York City (CCNYC). She has also directed a physical theater piece, “Ingress” which has been shown as part of the Emruz Festival, April 2019, Brooklyn, NY. She is also the assistant director of the Maaa Theater New York-based group. 

Rawya el Chab is a Lebanese performer, director, and facilitator. Her career trajectory has combined classical training in the theater with contemporary art and community engagement. Coming of age in the aftermath of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1992) she came to see the role of theater as a tool for social change insofar as it could disarm situations of conflict while continuing to address them. During her early career, she participated in major productions, working with leading theater and cinema directors in Lebanon, such as Roger Assaf, Nidal Al-Achkar, and Danielle Arbid. She also worked with numerous local artists on experimental theater projects and art performances. Later she worked for six years as a theater instructor at a local public school in Beirut, where she used her class as a safe space for the children to experiment, imagine and develop life skills. These experiences have allowed her to sharpen her methodological tools and develop a myriad of exercises that she uses in her work with both children and adults. Her interest in democratizing the tools of theater to better enable social change led her to work as a facilitator for numerous community theater workshops organized by local and international NGOs. She also co-founded the interactive theater group Kawalees, where she has been using interactive theater with different marginalized communities across Lebanon. Currently, she has begun to develop an interest in the concept and practice of play. She has also been actively developing this practice in her ongoing art projects, working with other artists, researchers, and technicians to convert their initiatives into an active playground of creativity.

Aline Saloum is an NYC based actress who has performed in a range of countries, including Switzerland, Lebanon, and the United States. She completed her B.A. in Theater and Film at the Lebanese American University and is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts NY where she was selected to be a member of the Academy Company. NYC acting credits include, “Rise/Fall” by Sheila Bandyopadhyay, performed in the Women in Theater Festival and “Born in the Ruins”, produced by the WHO. 

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater:

The Artist Anita Abdinezhad will be sharing a short film on Instagram

Language: English Time: 6:00 PM EST , 10:00 PM GMT 2:30 AM Tehran
Please join us on Instagram @emruzfest.nyc

Anita Abdinezhad is an Iranian born, NYC based artist. She is honored to be in this year’s Emruz Festival. Anita is currently an MFA Acting student in her 2nd year at Columbia University. Please visit her website for more of her credits and work: www.anitaabdinezhad.com

Anita would like to thank many of her friends and family members who are out on the front lines as medical professionals, aiding us all. And thank you for watching.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

Behrooz Afghahi and Soroosh Babaie will be taking us for a journey electronic of sound exploring in times of quarantine.
Language: NA Duration: 20 mins Time: 2:00PM EST , 7:00 GMT 10:30 PM Tehran
Please join us via Zoom

KOUK is an electronic music duo based in Brooklyn with a sound that ranges from the more experimental side, where they play with the evolution of electronic and electroacoustic textures and spaces, to hard hitting dance floor music, whether it's them playing live sets or DJing. Consisting of Behrooz, a statistician and programmer by trade, and Soroosh, A professional chef, the duo's approach to sound and music is methodical, they combine familiar grooves and rhythms with mathematically evolving sound waves that change in different time scales. The intention is to create as broad of a mental space as possible through sound, and complement that with other senses, resulting in live performances that are accompanied by visuals.

Currently, our day to day interactions with each other have been reduced to nearly none, and playing live music seems like a distant dream, which opens up the possibility of experimenting with a new form of listening music and interacting through it. Our current question is how is this new medium different and what norms and expectations does it bring with it. The piece we are KOUKing for the Emruz Festival's Virtual Series is an exploration of this and we hope you enjoy it.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Present

Theater Director and Emruz Co-Curator Shadi Ghaheri will be in conversation with Tehran-based Playwright Jaber Ramezani, Sara Bigdeli Shamlou, Afsoon Pajoufar, Reza Behjat, Shima Mirhamidi on Collaboration in Design.
Language: Farsi Duration: 60-90 mins Time: 12PM EST , 5:00 GMT 8:30 PM Tehran
Please join us via Zoom

Jaber Ramezani Jaber Ramezani is a playwright, director and film maker based in Tehran, Iran. He has a BA in Dramatic Literature from Sooreh University, Tehran and is currently studying an MA in Film Directing at Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran.

His directorial debut ‘A New Game’ was selected for the International University Puppetry Festival. He has continued to produce work at home and abroad since. Other credits include; ‘Edward Normal Hands’ (Iran), ‘Swim Team’ (Skena Up, Kosovo, ITSelf, Poland, and Romatheater festival) and “Slow Sound of Snow” (Iranshahr, Tehran).
As a playwright Jaber’s work has been performed at the Fajr International Festival, the 14th & 15th International University Theatre Festivals and at Tajrobeh Theatre Festival. His awards include the ‘Lucky Euro Special Award’ for ‘Swim Team’ (Poland), ‘Best Director’ (15th International University Theatre Festival, Iran) and “best director” (Roma theatre festival Italy)

Afsoon Pajoufar is an NYC based freelance designer of stage and environment for play, opera, and live performance. Arriving at set design from a background in fine arts and film. She earned her MFA in Set Design at Boston University. Her designs have been seen at Harvard TDM, New Repertory Theatre, Kitchen Theatre, Gloucester Stage, Actor’s Shakespeare Company, Corkscrew, and Prelude Festival. As an Assistant Designer, Afsoon assisted on the recent Broadway production of West Side Story. Her design for "Cabaret" was chosen for the 2019 American Exhibit at the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space. Afsoon moved to the United States from Tehran, Iran. www.afsoonpajoufar.com

Sara Bigdeli Shamlou

“ Born in Tehran, 1991, the now Paris- based Vocalist/ Lyricist/ Composer,​ "Sara Bigdeli Shamloo" (aka​ SarrSew)​ is one-half of the duo ​"9T Antiope".​ Since 2014, they've had releases on multiple labels such as ​"PTP (Purple Tape Pedigree)", "Eilean Rec.", "Hallow Ground", "Zabte Sote/Opal Tapes", "Flaming Pines", "Unperceived Records"​ and an upcoming project on ​"American Dreams".​

 Initially starting music as a classical violin player, she became the vocalist of trio ​"Migrain Sq." alongside ​"Nima Aghiani"​ -the other half of 9T Antiope- and ​"Pouya Pour-Amin",​ back in 2011.

A second duo she has recently created with Nima Aghiani in 2020, is ​“Taraamoon”​ which focuses more on alternative electronic music with lyrics in Farsi.

As "SarrSew", other than her solo works, throughout the years she'd produced a number of creations for theatre and film; also active as a performer, she acts and occasionally illustrates. As a result of her -abandoned- studies of Theatre Directing at ​"Tehran University" -also/perhaps- her music is a melange of storytelling, dramatic lyrics and vocals woven together with electronics and acoustic instruments.

As of 2018, she's been producing a multimedia project, an Album/Monologue/Performance "Loss in The Living Room: An Homage To Death".​ “

REZA BEHJAT (Lighting Design) was born and raised in Iran where he worked with some of the prominent directors for several years. In 2014, he moved to New York City to pursue his MFA in Lighting Design at New York University where he was offered a full-ride for three years. Reza's works have been shown on Off-Broadway and regional theaters across the United States such as The Public Theater, Art New York Theaters, Naatco, Waterwell, The Guthrie Theater, Actors Theater of Louisville, Longwarf Theater, Geva Theater Center, Baltimore Center Stage and etc.  Currently, Reza resides in Brooklyn.

SHMA MIRHAMIDI is a Tehran-based Costume Designer

شیما میر حمیدی متولد سال 1363، طراح لباس، ساکن تهران. فارغ التحصیل رشته طراحی صحنه در سال 1386. او از سال 82 فعالیت حرفه ای خود را آغاز کرد و در سال های 88 و 96 به عنوان بهترین طراح لباس در جشنواره بین المللی فجر انتخاب شد. او همچنین توانسته به عنوان طراح صحنه دو بار برنده جایزه بهترین طراح صحنه سال شود. در سال های اخیر با راه اندازی استودیو زیرزمین تلاش میکند تا فرصت کار در پروژه های حرفه ای را برای کار آموزان به وجود بیاورد.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Present
Join us for a session of Poem Reading and conversation with the Artist Neda Zahraie.
Language: English Duration: 30 mins Time: 8:00 PM EST , 1:00 AM GMT 4:30 AM Tehran
Please join us via Zoom

Anamnesis is Neda Zahraie’s avant-garde poetics, a hybrid text that explores the relationship between history and experience, trauma and nostalgia, selective and collective memory. An Iranian American woman, the uprooted and displaced product of two cultures, must visit the lives of women gone before her—including her late grandmother—to reclaim her marginalized body, censored by one culture and unwritten by another.

Neda Zahraie (Kamalata) is a New York rock artist composing poetic and politically-charged songs from the belly of the beast. Kamalata is 21st Century rock; the debut album Red Lips—sounds from the East Village of New York City—stamps the arrival of rock at an uninhibited multicultural plateau.

Welcome to the Superculture.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

We will posting a short video by Sade Namei

Via Instagram, please follow @emruzfest.nyc

Sade Namei is a member of Peydah Theatre company. She’s a comedian and actor. She recently appeared in Hook and Eye Theatre Company’s Echo and Narcissus.Previous stage work includes Eve Ensler's "Emotional Creature" at the Signature Theatre (NYC) and Berkeley Rep, “Against The Hillside” at The O’Neill , “In The Line” at A.R.T. NY, "Mika" at The U.N., "Leaves of Grass" at The Cell, #Serials@theFlea, "United Front" (Primary Stages), and her one-woman show "In Medias Res" at the Brick Theater. She has also performed at the Argentinian Consulate and The Asia Societyamong others. Films: Subways, Fatima, and The Elegant Clockwork of the Universe. She works as a TV/film Farsi translator/dialect coach on The Blacklist, Madam Secretary, Limitless, Mr. Robot, and Homeland. She also enjoys creating characters and putting them on Instagram, YouTube and etc. @sadenamei.

Emruz Festival in collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Present
Theater Director Mohammad Aghebati and his team do a reading of their work in progress: Rooftop. This is an open rehearsal in Farsi Language Over Zoom.
Language: Farsi Duration: 30 mins Time: 2:00 PM EST , 7:00 PM GMT 10:30 PM Tehran
Please join us via Zoom

Mohammad Aghebati is an Iranian artist working between New York City and Tehran.  Since 2000, he has been directing and producing plays for adults and young audiences in his native Iran.  He has received various awards for his plays including the Young Artist Medal of Honor from Iran’s former President Mohammad Khatami. Aghebati was a member of the Leev Theater Group, which is known as one of Iran’s most successful and critically acclaimed theater groups. 

In 2007, Aghebati was selected and commissioned by Japan Foundation to direct a new interpretation of Oedipus Rex, which played in Tokyo.  Several of his works have toured various international festivals. 

In the US, “Hamlet, Prince of Grief” was presented as a part of the Under the Radar Festival at NYC’s Public Theater, receiving a great review from the New York Times.  Since then, it has been presented at Asia Society in New York, Brigham Young University and at University of Southern California, and Sarasota’s Ringling Festival. 

Aghebati is a graduate of Theater Directing at Tehran Art University and was a Special Research Fellow at Yale School of Drama.  He received his MFA from Brooklyn College in Performance and Media Arts. He has been teaching directing and acting in various workshops around the world including Masters of Ancient World at Shanghai Theater Academy (2018).  As an actor, Aghebati’s films played at big festivals such as Berlin (“Modest Reception” which won the NETPAC Prize for Best Asian Film at the 2012 Berlinale) and Cannes (“They”2017). He has been developing his debut feature film to shoot in New York City in 2020.

Producer Mehrnoush Alia is a filmmaker and theater producer/playwright working between New York and Tehran. She received her MFA in film from Columbia University, and her BA from UC Berkeley in Film Studies and Comparative Literature. Mehrnoush has produced over a dozen films, as well as two of Mohammad Aghebati’s plays which she adapted for the stage. Her directorial debut Scheherazade has won several awards and screened at over two dozen film festivals. She is the co-founder of Maaa Art, a film and theater production company that produces and distributes work by Iranian artists internationally.  She is currently working on the development of three documentary films, two narrative features that are slated to shoot in late 2020, and a new play. 

Playwright Mohammadmehdi Chakeri is an award winning theatermaker and a graduate of Theater Directing from Tehran University.  He has collaborated with the renowned Leev Theatre Academy during the past decade as a playwright, dramaturg, assistant director, and executive producer.  During this time, he has written 9 plays and worked with artists such as Mohammad Hasan Majuni, Mohammad Aghebati, and Azadeh Shahmiri on a total of 20 projects.    

Assistant Director Hengameh Fallah, born in 1986, is a New York-based artist and founder of Aasoo Performing Arts, a platform focusing on cultural exchange and social matters through art. She has directed a play-reading performance, “Partners In Crime” of Eric Emmanuel Schmitt in August 2018 at Gibney Studio, Manhattan, NY with the help of the Iranian Community of the Northeast (ICON), and funding from Citizens Committee for New York City (CCNYC). She has also directed and produced a physical theater piece, “Ingress” which has been shown as part of the Emruz Festival, April 2019, Brooklyn NY. She is also the assistant director of the Maaa Theater New York-based group.

Cast - Alphabetical Order

Ali Akhavan is a software engineer and also works in film and theatre. He has produced short films with personal themes available at vimeo.com/nomadali and has helped produce other works by New York indie filmmakers such as Story of Benjamin and American Mermaid.  He is a member of  the Maaa Theater New York-based group since June 2019 as an actor.

Asieh Ahani (born 1986, Mashhad, Iran) is a professional based in New York. She moved to the United States in 2011 to pursue her PhD in biomedical engineering from Northeastern University in Boston. She became interested in performing arts after meeting active members of Simorgh theatre group in Boston that led her to join the group in 2014. After moving to New York, she has attended the workshops of Monologue, Dialogue and Acting (September 2018 - present) in New York City, under the supervision of Mohammad Aghebati, one of the distinguished Iranian directors. She is a member of  the Maaa Theater New York-based group since June 2019 as an actor. Beside performing art, Asieh is an avid supporter of iranian traditional music and plays Daaf (frame drum).

Borna Nemati (born in 1987, Rasht, Iran) studies Visual Art/ Radio and TV Production at Brooklyn College since 2015. He has been a theater director/writer at Norooz Festival in Boulder University, Colorado, 2011. He has performed in “Ingress”, directed by Hengameh Fallah, presented as part of Emruz Festival (2019, NY). He is practicing in Aasoo Performing Arts since December 2018 and is a member of  the Maaa Theater New York-based group since June 2019 as an actor. He also worked on a couple of radio, TV, and film productions,as a Sound Mixer/post-production/actor in "unproductive" (web series) 2019- present, Camera operator in "An Action Piece" (short movie) 2018, Producer in World Wide Music_ (radio segment for SCCC Radio) 2017, Director/ Writer in "A Piece of The Pie" (Experimental short film) 2016, Camera operator, and director in "Saporo Fino" (Feature story) 2016.

Ehsan Najafi (born 1985, Ghazvin, Iran) is a member of the Maaa Theater New York-based group since June 2019 as an actor. He has participated in Aghebati’s workshops on Monologue, Dialogue, and Acting in 2018 and 2019.  Moreover, he has been a member of Aasoo Performing Arts working with Hengameh Fallah since 2018. Ehsan was a Backstage assistant in a physical theater piece, “Ingress” (2019), produced in Aasoo Performing Arts.  

Iman Hajirasouliha is member of the Maa Theater group based in New York City. As a member of Aasoo Performing Arts, he performed in a physical theatre piece, “Ingress”directed by Hengameh Fallah, Emruz Festival, April 2019, Brooklyn, NY. He is a member of  the Maaa Theater New York-based group since June 2019 as an actor.

Born in Tehran, Iran in 1992, Actor and Dramaturg Koosha Kalhor is an engineering professional living in NYC who has been involved in theater projects and also has participated in acting workshops focusing on monologue, dialogue and professional theater acting since 2018. He is a member of  the Maaa Theater New York-based group since June 2019 as an actor and dramaturg. 

Maedeh Soleimanifar (born in 1987, Rasht, Iran) is a PhD candidate in Environmental Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology. She was an assistant director in “John and Joe” show (2015, Iran). She acted in “Partners in Crime” play-reading performance (2018, NY) and performed in “Ingress” show at Emruz Festival (2019, NY). She is a member of  the Maaa Theater New York-based group since June 2019 as an actor.

Mahsa Mehrdad is a 35-year old professional based in New York City. She has performed in a play reading performance and a physical theatre piece, “Ingress”, directed by Hengameh Fallah, produced in Aasoo Performing Arts. She is a member of  the Maaa Theater New York-based group since June 2019 as an actor.

Masih Rahmati was born in 1984, Esfahan, Iran. He plays Tombak (an Iranian percussion instrument) and has played in a couple of Iranian music bands. He has performed in a play reading performance, “Partners in Crime” (2018) and a physical theatre piece, “Ingress” (2019), directed by Hengameh Fallah, produced in Aasoo Performing Arts. Masih is a member of  the Maaa Theater New York-based group since June 2019 as an actor.

Mehrdad Valinasab is a professional engineer who finds joy in theater-related activities and specifically acting. He pursues his passion by being part of amateur dramatic groups and community theaters. Mehrdad lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He is a member of  the Maaa Theater New York-based group since June 2019 as an actor.

Born and raised in Iran, Pedram Massoudi studied Transportation and Civil Engineering and then immigrated to U.S, in 2014. He moved to New York in 2016 to pursue his dream and to be active in acting. Pedram has attended the workshops of Monologue, Dialogue and Acting (September 2018 - present) in New York City, under the supervision of Mohammad Aghebati, one of the distinguished Iranian directors. Pedram is a member of the Maaa Theater New York-based group since June 2019 as an actor.

Sahar Ghanavati was a member of student theatre groups from 1999 to 2007. She acted in 3 plays at Sharif University in Tehran, Iran between 2004 and 2007. She has been attending theatre workshops under the supervision of Mohammad Aghebati in NYC since April 2019. She is a member of the Maaa Theater New York-based group since June 2019 as an actor.

Sharareh Noorbaloochi (born 1982, Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian-American professional in New York City. She is a member of the Maaa Theater New York-based group since June 2019 as an actor. Sharareh holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University and is passionate about social justice.

Emruz Festival In collaboration with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Present

Please join us for a Music Performance and Conversation with Karaj Collective over Zoom.
Language: English/Farsi Duration: 20 mins Time: 12:00 PM EST , 5:00 PM GMT 8:30 PM Tehran

Karaj Collective live sets presents new compositions, improvisation, and original fusion music, bringing together influences from jazz, blues, and Kurdish, Azeri, Afghani, and Armenian folk music.

- Pouya Mahmoudi: Guitar

- Saleh Zarei: Bass Guitar

- Ali Nourbakhsh: Percussion

Karaj brings together three distinguished Iranian contemporary musicians all of whom have transversed musical borders and traditions to find a truly original sound. Guitarist Pouya Mahmoudi has been one of Iran's most creative, introducing traditional folk scales and melodies to blues and rock form and technique. Percussionist Ali Nourbakhsh has spent the last ten years exploring the intersections between Iranian, Western and South American rhythm, and bassist Saleh Zarei Lal Abadi's career has taken him from metal to experimental jazz. They have performed on various stages in Europe including the 2018 London Jazz Festival.