Photo by Azadeh Besharati
Catch the enchanting rhythms and beautiful melodies of Kayhan Kalhor and Erdal Erzincan, two longtime musical collaborators whose blending of Iranian kamancheh and Turkish saz demonstrates that to be one in heart is better than to be one in tongue.
This is a past program
This program took place on
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
About the Program
Grammy Award winner, WOMEX 2019 artist of the year, and internationally acclaimed kamancheh (Persian spiked fiddle) player Kayhan Kalhor returns to the Skirball with world-renowned Turkish saz/bağlama (long-necked lute) virtuoso Erdal Erzincan. The two may speak different tongues, but their hearts are united through music. They have been playing concerts together for two decades, mesmerizing audiences with enchanting rhythms and beautiful melodies.
Kalhor is a Kurdish speaker from Kermanshah in Northwestern Iran and Erzincan is a Turkish-speaking Alevi from Erzurum in Eastern Turkey. Both Kurds and Alevis have been marginalized minorities and have suffered from historical systematic suppression by the central governments in their countries. The Kurd and Alevi nomads have been playing music not only for expressing love and worship but also to lament the sorrow of injustice and separation.
"The tongue of mutual understanding is different indeed: to be one in heart is better than to be one in tongue."—Rumi
