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Kayhan Kalhor and Brooklyn Rider Silent City (World Village) Kayhan Kalhor has performed and recorded with Iran's greatest singers and instrumentalists and toured the world as a soloist. He co-founded the Dastan, Ghazal and Masters of Persian Music ensembles and has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de Lyon, and others. In addition to his work as a performer, Kalhor's compositions have been used for various television and film projects. He is also is an original member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project and his works are heard on all of the Ensemble's albums. Three of his recordings, including his two previous World Village releases, Faryad and Without You, were nominated for Grammy® Awards. The innovative, genre-bending string quartet Brooklyn Rider (Johnny Gandelsman and Colin Jacobsen, violins, Nicholas Cords, viola and Eric Jacobsen, cello), is named for the members' beloved New York borough and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) — a German expressionist movement that flourished during the early twentieth century. The quartet has been challenging and delighting audiences ever since its inception by dividing its time between exploring traditional classical repertoire, new music and fervently adventurous intercultural explorations. Aside from their affiliation with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, Brooklyn Rider has worked with composers such as Chen Yi and Kayhan Kalhor and performers such as violinist Jenny Scheinman and visual artist Kevork Mourad.

More info: Iranian kamancheh (spike fiddle) virtuoso and composer Kayhan Kalhor first encountered the string quartet Brooklyn Rider while participating in Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project. Silent City was born of a growing friendship between Kalhor and the group. Reinterpreting classical and folkloric sources in a freewheeling, impassioned manner was already second nature for all concerned but, invigorated by shared connections between their respective traditions, the five musicians, along with Jeffrey Beecher (bass) and Mark Suter (percussion), found themselves communicating on a fresh and thrilling new wavelength. All four works on this recording were composed by the participants. The album opens with the Icarus-like, Zoroastrian imagery of Ascending Bird — a feverish, searing take on a tale ancient beyond recall that remains perpetually relevant. Although Silent City was written to commemorate the Kurdish village of Hallabja in Iraqi Kurdistan, Kalhor dedicated the piece to cities throughout history "destroyed by humanity, war, and natural disaster." Parvaz, another variant of the 'soaring bird' image, features a setar (a 4-string Iranian lute with movable frets) that, along with the bowed instruments, depicts frantically beating wings striving toward the light. On the final selection, the transcendent romance of Beloved, do not let me be discouraged inspires the participants to reach deep inside as many and one, rising to an ecstatic culmination of shared passion and imagination.

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