Tower Sounds: Ancient Voices and Electronics

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Tower Sounds: Ancient Voices and Electronics

by Shahrokh Yadegari

featuring performances by:

Siamak Shajarian, Vocals
Kate St-Pierre, Vocals
Keyavash Nourai, Violin
Dmitri Mahlis, Oud
Satnam Ramgotra, Tabla and Percussion

at Ann Hamilton’s Tower

on the Oliver Ranch
Geyserville, California

presented by Persian Arts Society on
July 11, 2009 at 1:00pm
Audiences need to arrive at the Oliver Ranch at 12:30PM.

Other performances presented by
UC Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Judah L. Magnes Museum
Congregation Shomrei Torah of Santa Rosa

For more information visit:
TowerSounds.org

This event has become possible by the generous support of Steven and Nancy Oliver.

Tower Sounds has been realized at the facilities of
Center for Research in Computing and the Arts and
California Institute for Telecommunicaitons and Information Technology.
     

We would like to thank Meyer Sound for providing the loudspeakers for this event.

Shahrokh Yadegari’s Tower Sounds, a groundbreaking multi-channel sound piece and composition, interweaves traditional Jewish and Islamic music, poetry, and song, combined with state of the art electronic compositional structures and stunning live performances by the highly acclaimed Persian vocalist Siamak Shajarian, and performers Kate St. Pierre, Vocals; Keyavash Nourai, Violin; Dimitri Mahlis, Oud; and Satnam Ramgotra, Tabla, Percussion.

Originally curated by Lawrence Rinder, now the director of the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, for the Magnes Museum where the piece originated as Through Music, a sound installation in 2007, Tower Sounds extends the work of Rinder's grandfather, Cantor Reuben R. Rinder (1887-1966), The cantor of Congregation Emanu El in San Francisco from 1915 to 1959.

Ann Hamilton’s Tower is an eight-story high tower with a double-helix staircase, created over a 12 year span by Ann Hamilton with Jensen Architects and completed in 2007. Audience members disperse along the staircase and find seats within the open nooks of the tower walls. For those ambitious enough to climb the 124 steps to the top, magnificent views of Oliver Ranch and the Alexander Valley unfold below.

This is a unique opportunity to visit the Ann Hamilton Tower, which is rarely open to the public, and to witness a one of kind performance created especially for this space.

"Ann Hamilton’s Tower is a sacred space," says Shahrokh Yadegari, "When you come to the Tower, you instantly realize that you have walked into a sound world with amazing visual symmetries. You become detached from the outside and begin to listen to the voices of your inner being. The acoustics are truly unique and bring a special life to any music that is played there."

Program Information

Saturday, July 11 at 1:00pm: Persian Arts Society presents Tower Sounds: Ancient Voices and Electronics. Refreshments are provided on the Oliver Ranch, following the performance.

The Oliver Ranch is in Geyserville, CA, approximately an hour and a half north of San Francisco.
Oliver Ranch
22205 River Rd
Geyserville, CA 95441
click here to locate the ranch on Google maps: Oliver Ranch

Tickets are $130 per person. E-Tickets are available to purchase online at: TowerSounds.org. For more information, contact event coordinator Blair Nelson by phone (858) 605-6612 or e-mail blair@persianarts.org.

NOTE: Attendees should arrive at the parking lot in Geyserville no later than 12:30PM on July 11. Comfortable shoes and clothing is hightly recommended.

Shahrokh Yadegari, composer and sound designer, has collaborated with such artists as Peter Sellars, Robert Woodruff, Maya Beiser, Steven Schick, and Vibeke Sorensen. His music has been performed and he has performed in such venues as the Carnegie Hall, Festival of Arts and Ideas, Ravinia Festival, Holland Festival, Vienna Festival, Forum Barcelona, and the International Computer Music Conference. He is currently on the faculty at the University of California, San Diego where he has founded a progressive sound design program at the department of Theatre and Dance.

Siamak Shajarian public musical life began when the Ministry of Culture and the Arts in Mashhad sponsored him at age eleven. He inherited his talents in singing from his father and in calligraphy from his mother. He studied the Persian vocal art (avaz) and its Radif with Ghafoorian and Gholam Hossein Zahiredini, and completed his studies under the direction of his brother, Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Esmaeel Mehrtash. In addition to mastering the vocal Radif of Persian traditional music, Shajarian has also studied Tar, Santur and Tombak. In 1977, he moved to the United States. Soon after he joined Oshagh Ensemble and gave numerous concerts across the U.S. and Canada. Shajarian has appeared on many festivals and radio interviews. His most recent recordings are "Kereshmeh" with Payvar Ensemble, "Shoukh-e Sangdel" by Mohammad Ali Kiani-nejad, and "Light and Fire" with Lian Ensemble. Currently he lives in Los Angeles where he teaches Persian traditional vocal Radif.

Kate St-Pierre is most recognized for her versatility. Vocally she is renowned for her ethnic qualities, her throaty grunge like belt into a pure operatic tone and her passionate phrasing. Kate has recorded for numerous film scores and soundtracks, including female vocalist for the original soundtrack by Benoit Jutras (Cirque du Soleil) for the show, "Le Reve" at the Wynn Hotel; featured soloist for the Middle Eastern group Solace; guest soloist on Jon Anderson’s (Yes) project, "In Elven Lands." Kate has performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and has been featured in the score for several television projects. Kate’s voice was also featured on the 2004 Drama Desk nominated music for "Ramayana 2K3." After singing in Cirque Du Soleil’s, "Ka" at the MGM in Las Vegas, Kate performed with her band KAVANAH at the Coachella Music Festival, and then went on to tour Europe with the band SOLACE. Kate recently recorded again for Benoit Jutras and for legendary film trailer composer Thomas J. Bergersen.

Keyavash Nourai was born in Tehran, Iran where he began his serious pursuit of a musical career at the age of 10. He studied the violin and kamanche with the acclaimed Kamran Daroughe until he moved to United States in 1977. He continued his musical studies in the United States under the tutelage of Alexander Treger, Eugene Fodor, Mark Menzies, and other prominent musicians. In addition, Nourai extended his skills by studying under the Indian violin masters L. Subramaniam and L.Shankar. He attended the school of music at California State University, Northridge and earned his Bachelor's degree in world music from the California Institute of the Arts, where he later earned his masters degree in Western Classical Violin. Nourai currently plays and teaches numerous Persian instruments, such as setar, santur, tombak, and the quartertone piano. His recent focus is on arranging many traditional Persian songs in the style of Western Classical Music. Keyavash Nourai is proficient in various musical genres including Western Classical, Traditional Persian as well as fusion Jazz.

Dimitris Mahlis is a multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Los Angeles. Since first coming to LA, Dimitri’s skills on oud, guitar and other stringed instruments have led him into a rich variety of performing and recording expereinces. Recent recording credits include: Mamak Khadem: "jostejoo"; Lal Meri: "lal meri"; "huun huur tu with carmen rizzo"; "vino" with robi draco ros. Dimitri also contributed to the musical score for the Micheal Apted documentary "the power of the game". Dimitri has toured throughout the world with a variety of artists including A.R. Rahman, Hassan Hakmoun, Axiom of Choice, and Dionisis Savopoulos. Dimitri has released four CD projects that include his own compositions. He currently leads the ensembles "babaghanoush" "prana" and "wahid" which feature his compositions.

Satnam Ramgotra, of Indian descent, was born and raised in Canada. At the age of ten, Satnam began formal training on both drum set, and Indian Classical Tabla. He studied under the guidance of world-renowned Tabla master, Swapan Chaudhuri, at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, CA. At the Percussion Institute of Technology, in Hollywood, CA. His versatility and command of Rhythm have made Satnam a highly sought after drummer and world-percussionist. Satnam has worked as a guest artist with Wendy & Lisa, Peter Erskine, Beck, Sting, and Seal. He tours as drummer for power-house vocalist, Nikka Costa, and also toured with; Michael Landau, Lili Haydn, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Boxing Gandhis, and Greek pop-icons Dionesis Savvopoulos, and Thanasis Papakonstantinou. Satnam continually works with prominent artists & composers such as Alberto Iglesias, Hans Zimmer, James Newton-Howard, Atli Örvarsson, Jim Dooley, Aaron Zigman, Carmen Rizzo, Martin Tillman, Jeff Rona, Lee Ritenour. He can be heard as a soloist on many Hollywood movie scores including, "The Dark Knight", "Kite Runner", "Charlie Wilson's War", "Vantage Point", "Black Hawk Down", Madagascar 2", "Monsters vs Aliens", and most recently, "Angels & Demons". Satnam also co-leads Six Degrees Recording Artists, ALIEN CHATTER.

Graphic Design by Shilla Shakoori
Webmastering by Blair R. Nelson