‘The Longest Night’

​​​​​​​Kayhan Kalhor, the Iranian kamancheh master, and Tristan Driessens, the Belgian master of the Ottoman oud, join forces in The Longest Night. They are inspired by an ancient winter solstice festival dating back to Zoroastrianism (a Persian religion). Yaldā Night marks the renewal of the sun and the victory of light over darkness. This Iranian festival is the second most important after Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Kalhor and Driessens evoke this highly significant Iranian cultural event through a cycle of instrumental works based on the traditions of modal improvisation shared by Persian and Ottoman musical cultures. With the santur player Pooyan Ataei and the Dutch members of the Rembrandt Trio Tony Overwater (violone) and Vincent Planjer (percussion), this concert promises to be an experience of beauty, poetry and mystical evocation.