Khayami's compositional journey reflects a reconciliation with his Iranian cultural roots, integrating them with Western compositional thought to create a new expressive depth.
Composer Biography
Mehdi Khayami, the composer, began studying music at age five with his grandfather, who was a significant figure in the Iranian musical tradition.
Performer Biography
Divertimento Ensemble, founded in 1977, has premiered over 100 new compositions dedicated to them by various composers.
Compositional Technique
For Khayami, microtonality, which is a modern technique in Western music, is the ancient basis of the modal system from his Iranian heritage.
Instruments
The Kamanche, a featured instrument in the 'Kamanche Concerto', is an Iranian string instrument played vertically like a viola da gamba, but with a smaller, semi-spherical soundbox.
Performer Biography
Saman Samimi, the kamanche player, collaborated with master singer of Persian traditional music Mohammadreza Shajarian on numerous international concerts from 2008 to 2012.
Instruments
The piece 'Sellat' for solo piano uses paper clips inserted into the piano strings to evoke the sound of the santoor, a Persian cithara.
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