Afarin Nazarijou and Isabel Crespo Pardo – Qanun and Voice

February 26, 2022 2:30 PM Co*Lab 9641 102A Ave NW, Edmonton and online Tickets

Nazarijou/Pardo event poster

Now available on-demand on Vimeo – click here to view. New Music Edmonton’s presentation of Afarin Nazarijou (qanun) and Isabel Crespo Pardo (voice) on Saturday, February 26, 2022 at 2:30 pm.

Afarin Nazarijou (Qanun, Iran) and Isabel Crespo Pardo (Voice, NYC/Costa Rica) have developed their duo for two years, performing Persian classical music, Latin American folk music, Jazz, and free improvisation. Their distinct musical and cultural backgrounds filter into their improvisations, creating a rich tapestry of new and traditional sounds. The duo develops their free playing by rehearsing weekly, listening together, crafting exercises to push their improvisations in new directions, and receiving coachings from mentor and pianist Anthony Coleman. This Fall, they moved to different cities and can no longer rehearse regularly. However, they continued working together by composing open form pieces that reimagine song traditions through the lens of free music. This opportunity allows them to debut a new set of open form pieces and develop their collaboration further. Their compositions employ forms and modes particular to Persian classical music, original poems in Farsi and in Spanish, and explore timbres and gestures located in and between the qanun and the voice. Thematically, their pieces are born from a need to communicate and a want to share, the duo’s work is informed by their experiences as immigrant and first generation American, as people of color, as women and as queer folx.

Back to events

Info

Info

February 26, 2022

The Artists

Afarin Nazarijou started playing piano at five and expanded Qanun (traditional Persian string instrument) which became her main instrument. She also started to play the Tombak (Persian percussion instrument) in Tehran Music School where she graduated with honors.

She had the privilege to study Iranian Classical music repertoire and improvisation and studied Physics of Sound in University of Tehran during her bachelor’s and Master’s in performance.

With the aim of expanding her multicultural perspective of music, she decided to go abroad and was accepted at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with the highest scholarship offered by the school and won the Peter Row award of the year at NEC in 2021. In 2021 she started studying Masters of Arts at University of Alberta. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge and passion of music with different cultures globally, playing Iranian Classical music, free improvisation, composing and arranging for mixed ensembles.

Isabel Crespo Pardo (they/them) is an NYC-based latinx vocalist, improviser, and composer creating art that constantly evolves to reflect the intra/interpersonal spaces they inhabit. Their practice is nourished by curiosity and (dis)comfort. Reveling in soft chaos, they embrace openness and specificity to create poetic work.

Tickets