Opening Concert

Melisa Yıldırım, Swarupa Ananth & Yazz Ahmed -Hues of Imagination

It was a chance, magical encounter in Florida: the Turkish Kamancheh player Melisa Yıldırım and the Indian Tabla artist Swarupa Ananth improvised together and quickly connected musically. In one take - and without discussion beforehand or edits afterward - they recorded an entire album that is now released as 'Hues of Imagination'. Yıldırım studied in Istanbul and her compositions are inspired by the traditional music of Anatolia. Since then she has expanded her repertoire on her numerous trips. Swarupa Ananth comes from India and was mentored by tabla maestro Zakir Hussain. She is already in demand internationally as a musician and has made guest appearances at the Glastonbury Festival and the Wassermusik Festival in Berlin. With samples and her own voice she expands the Tabla universe. For the Morgenland Festival the duo is bringing the jazz trumpeter Yazz Ahmed with them as a guest. Her style has been described as "intoxicating and captivating". Ahmed incorporates her Arabic roots and has already received various awards for her music. The trio will perform together for the first time at the Morgenland Festival.

Kayhan Kalhor Ensemble

The Kamancheh is one of the oldest stringed instruments of Central Asia and the Eastern Hemisphere. Kayhan Kalhor is a world-renowned master of this vertically held "spiked fiddle" and his concerts are very impressive experiences. Kalhor was born in Tehran and was already playing in the Iranian National Orchestra at the age of 13. In 1978 he went to Rome to study western music traditions and then moved to Canada. He has lived in the USA since the 1990s. Kayhan Kalhor has performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre National de Lyon. In Francis Ford Coppola's film "Youth Without Youth" (2007) he was the soloist in the film music composed by Osvaldo Golijov. Kalhor is also a founding member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble, which was awarded a Grammy in 2017. Kalhor has been connected with the Morgenland Festival Osnabrück for many years. Joint concerts with Aynur, Toumani Diabaté or Alim Qasimov are among the highlights of the festival. The musician has been living in Iran again for several years now, where he formed the Kayhan Kalhor Ensemble in 2020. The orchestra showcases the next generation and brings together outstanding young musicians of classical Persian music. The Kayhan Kalhor Ensemble will play at the Morgenland Festival for the first time outside of Iran.