Look & Listen: Asian Art and Music, Kiya Tabassian, setar, with Massumeh Farhad

Published: 17 July 2020
on channel: Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art

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Watch virtuoso Kiya Tabassian perform and discuss music for the setar, an ancient Iranian stringed instrument, alongside works of art from the twelfth to the sixteenth century showing Persian music in a variety of contexts. He is joined by curator Massumeh Farhad for an exploration of the ways in which music and art intersect to provide insights into Persian art and culture.

Kiya Tabassian is soloist on the setar (Persian lute) and director of the Montreal-based ensemble, Constantinople, which draws on the combined musical heritage of the European Renaissance, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. In addition to leading the ensemble’s innovative performances around the world, he has collaborated with Radio-Canada, the international MediMuses project, and the Atlas Ensemble and Academy in Holland. He is now artistic director of Montreal's Centre des Musiciens du Monde and an associate artist at the Rencontres Musicales de Conques–a world music festival in the south of France– where he presents his most recent creations with the Constantinople ensemble.

Massumeh Farhad is the Interim Deputy Director for Collections and Research, Chief Curator, and the Ebrahimi Family Curator of Persian, Arab, and Turkish Art.

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