EADJ Program Presents
Listening: The Fourth String – an introduction to ShahTár
In collaboration with the Tennessee Triennial, Blair School of Music, The Curb Center and Middle Eastern Seminar at Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities
An artistic collaboration between artists, musicians, and community for social change.
Public Performance:
March 2: Performance by Reza Filsoofi, Raheleh Filsoofi, Isi Miranda with special guests Michael Hix, Charlie Gilbert and Carlos Duran. Other guest artists will be announced.
The audience will be welcome to interact with the instrument and patriciate in the performance at the end of the event.
Listening: The Fourth String is project that will introduce an interactive and experiential instrument and platform ShahTár ((شه تار through public performances that re-imagine the silenced existence of the Iranian musician and Sufi, Moshtagh Ali Shah (18 century Iran), and emphasizes his historic contributions to the Iranian music. The project addresses the concept of sound, suggesting the act of listening can power community engagement, promote social change, and foster a better future. The event has been set on March 2nd between 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. and include performances by artists and musicians from Vanderbilt University as well as local musicians.
The Fourth String is a reference to the traditional Iranian instrument, the setar. Literally translated from the Persian Farsi language, setar means three (se) strings (tar), and the Iranian setar is a three-stringed instrument. However, centuries ago, the Iranian Sufi musician, Moshtagh Ali Shah, added a fourth string. This dramatically changed the instrument from its original configuration, enhancing the sound and allowing musicians to explore more complex compositional and performance possibilities while retaining the traditional capabilities of the three-stringed instrument.
The performances and workshops intend to broaden participants’ knowledge and understanding of Middle Eastern music and its ethos. It provides unique educational and performance opportunities for the community. The performance showcases the dynamic aspects of Middle Eastern music, its capacity to integrate with other musical genres, and the potency of its contribution to the soundscape of the United States.
About ShahTár: A Kermani rug that traditionally serves as a gathering place is transformed into a new four-string instrument where artists and community members can experience sound and music together.
About the Artists:
Raheleh Filsoofi is a multidisciplinary Iranian American artist based in the United States. Her work synthesizes sociopolitical statements as a point of departure and further challenges these fundamental arguments by incorporating ancient and contemporary media to create a holistic sensory experience. Her interdisciplinary practices examine the literal and figurative contexts of border, immigration, and land. Raheleh is an assistant professor in Ceramics at Vanderbilt University.
Reza Filsoofi is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer born in Tehran, Iran. Reza’s versatile musical styles combined with his expansive knowledge of different classical instruments have given him opportunities to collaborate with numerous artists and musicians in a variety of projects. Filsoofi is the director of Caravan Ensemble.
Collaborator from the Blair School of Music: Isidora Miranda
Isidora Miranda is an Assistant Professor of the Practice of Musicology and Ethnomusicology at the Blair School. She was recently awarded an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship for her research on music and theater performance in the Philippines. As a violinist, Isidora has performed in a variety of ensembles including the Manila Symphony Orchestra, the Julstrom String Quartet, and the music collective Forró Fo Sho, playing Northeastern Brazilian dance music.
This is an EADJ event.