Saturday, May 15 | 7:30 PM Concert

SATURDAY, MAY 15, 2021
Watch directly from this page. | Concert starts at 7:30PM (PDT)
ZOOM ARTIST TALK | Artist Talk starts at 8:30PM (PDT)

featuring:
Saina Khaledi, santour
Mark Takeshi McGregor, flute
Kimia Koochakzadi-Yazdi, electronics
Aram Bajakian, guitar

FREE! Donations appreciated & make a difference.

See the full festival schedule here.

< Prev Event Next Event >

“…how I listen has changed this year: I’m wanting that risk-taking, vulnerability, and humanity more than ever…”
Mark Takeshi McGregor flute

Discover Saina Khaledi‘s intimate santour performance of her “Mystery of Love.” Mark Takeshi McGregror and Kimia Koochakzadi-Yazdi plays James O’Callaghan’s “Doubt is a way of knowing.” And Aram Bajakian ends the concert with his own improvisations and The Beatles’ “Michelle”.

Listening. Together. has received generous support from:
SoundON, Creative BC, and the Province of British Columbia, Grossman & Stanley Business Lawyers, and Karen Gelmon and Peter Busby
…and, donors like you!

programme

Saina Khaledi
Mystery of Love
Performed by Saina Khaledi

James O’Callaghan
Doubt is a way of knowing
Performed by Mark Takeshi McGregror and Kimia Koochakzadi-Yazdi

Aram Bajakian
Taqsim
Nobody is Around and You Can Hear the Sound of the Snow
Tiny Death
Performed by Aram Bajakian

John Lennon & Paul McCartney (arr. Aram Bajakian)
Michelle
Performed by Aram Bajakian

What artists are saying about listening together:

“In my opinion, “listening. together.” means focusing on the same music at the same time while you are experiencing different feelings.” (Saina Khaledi, santour)

“Music to me is a series of events through time and when we listen together, I feel like we are experiencing all that is taking place in that particular world as a whole; And yet, we each feel it different from one another.” (Kimia Koochakzadi-Yazdi, electronics)

“When performing live, an artist is likely to take risks that they might not consider when, say, a camera and microphone are rolling in front of them — there’s a temptation to be cautious when you know your performance will end up on the internet for all to see and judge. But this past year, as most of our performances move online, I’ve been inspired by how musicians around the world continue to take those musical risks, continue to be vulnerable, even while the cameras are rolling. As a result, how I listen has changed this year: I’m wanting that risk-taking, vulnerability, and humanity more than ever, knowing that these things will often come at the expense of a “perfect performance””. (Mark Takeshi McGregor, flute)

When we play, we listen together. As soon as we walk into the room we’re going to perform in, we listen to the space. Is it a cold space or a warm space? Is it a heavy space or a space where things move, a fluid space? We listen to the people in the room…their words but even more, their spirit and energy. We listen to the neighborhood and the weather. As we begin to play, all these things become alive, and we start to listen more deeply to each other. To the little space between musical phrases. To the breathing. To the squeak of the guitar strings. To the space between bodies. To the dark places inside bodies. Other things begin to fall away, and eventually we realize that what we are listening to most deeply, and what we are all a part of, is the silence. (Dalavá, voice and electric guitar)