Peyvand

NYU Skirball & International Contemporary Ensemble Present

Peyvand

An Evening of Works by The Iranian Female Composers Association (IFCA)

Featuring A World Premiere by Niloufar Nourbakhsh

Saturday, October 15 at 7:30 pm

NYU Skirball and the International Contemporary Ensemble present Peyvand, an evening of eight works by members of the Iranian Female Composers Association (IFCA) on Saturday, October 15 at 7:30 pm at NYU Skirball. The program features world premieres by Niloufar Nourbakhsh and Nina Barzegar; a U.S. premiere by Anahita Abbasi; a NYC premiere by Aida Shirazi, and additional works by Golfam Khayam, Kimia Koochakzadeh-Yazdi, Nasim Khorassani, and Bahar Royaee.

Peyvand features works related to the theme of “peyvand,” the Persian word for connectivity.  It features the  world premiere of C Ce See by Niloufar Nourbakhsh for eight musicians, with Rome Prize winner Suzanne Farrin as composer mentor, and is the first work from Cheswatyr Commissions, the new commissioning and composer mentorship initiative of Composers Now, with support from the Cheswatyr Foundation. The initiative commemorates and celebrates Cece Wasserman, arts philanthropist and advocate for living composers.

In C Ce See, Nourbakhsh expresses the importance of social and artistic connectivity by way of a custom kinetic sculpture, designed by Roxanne Nesbitt, which brings the tones and colors of violins, violas, and cellos into a united sound by a single perpetually moving strand of bow hair. The program also features works by Golfam Khayam, Kimia Koochakzadeh-Yazdi, Nasim Khorassani, Nina Barzegar, Anahita Abbasi, Bahar Royaee, and Aida Shirazi. Steven Shick joins as conductor.

IFCA, co-founded by Anahita Abbasi, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, and Aida Shirazi, is a group of artists who have combined their experiences and creativity to create a platform for otherwise-unheard musical voices from the Iranian diaspora, and build and support a growing community of female and non-binary composers. 

International Contemporary Ensemble strives to cultivate a mosaic musical ecosystem that honors the diversity of human experience and expression by commissioning, developing, and performing the works of living artists. The Ensemble is a collective of musicians, digital media artists, producers, and educators who are committed to creating collaborations built on equity, belonging, and cultural responsiveness. Now in its third decade, the Ensemble continues to build new digital and live collaborative environments that strengthen artist agency and musical connections around the world. 

Composers Now, founded and led by the Kennedy Center Honors recipient and Pulitzer Prize winning composer, pianist, conductor and activist Tania León since 2011, empowers all living composers, celebrates the diversity of their voices and honors the significance of their artistic contributions to the cultural fabric of society. Its programs include: the Dialogues, Composer Curator and IMPACT series; the annual New York City-wide Festival; creative residencies; commissioning awards; and composer mentoring and career development opportunities for composers at a variety of points along their career trajectories.

Niloufar Nourbakhsh’s previous work has been described as “darkly lyrical” by the New York Times. She is the winner of the Hildegard Competition, the recipient of a Female Discovery Grant from Opera America, and a winner of Beth Morrison Projects Next Generation Competition, Cycle 2. Her music has been commissioned and performed by ensembles throughout the United States.

Roxanne Nesbitt is a designer, musician, and sound artist of Indo-Caribbean and European ancestry. Her research explores radical instrument design, the interconnection between composition and improvisation, and participatory sound installation. With formal studies including architecture and classical double bass, Roxanne composes and performs with self-made instruments and a strong visual consideration. Roxanne believes new instruments can facilitate explorations of sound free from colonial legacies of exclusion and perfectionism. She celebrates process making work that is intimate, inquisitive, and exploratory. Roxanne is currently based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations (Vancouver, CA).

PROGRAM INCLUDES

Golfam Khayam: Lost Wind (2019) for solo flute and wind gong

Kimia Koochakzadeh-Yazdi: What the Body Says (2021) for solo bassoon

Nasim Khorassani: Growth (2017) for violin, viola, cello

Nina Barzegar: Inexorable Passage (2020, World Premiere) for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano

Anahita Abbasi: within the Hadal and Epi (2019, U.S. Premiere) for flute, percussion, piano, violin, viola, double bass

Bahar Royaee: Distortions of the shell of the water on the lake, under the wind (2021) for violin, cello, piano 

Aida Shirazi: Crystalline Trees (2020, NYC Premiere) for flute, bass clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, viola, cello

Niloufar Nourbakhsh: C Ce See (2022, World Premiere)

TICKETS

Peyvand will play on Saturday, October 15 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at Peyvand tickets; by visiting the box office in person, Wednesday - Friday from 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm; or by calling 212.998.4941. NYU Skirball is located at 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square, New York, New York 10012.

ABOUT NYU SKIRBALL

NYU Skirball, located in the heart of Greenwich Village, is one of New York City’s major presenters of international work, and has been the premier venue for cultural and performing arts events in lower Manhattan since 2003. The 800-seat theater, led by Director Jay Wegman, provides a home for internationally renowned artists, innovators, and thinkers and presents ground-breaking events ranging from re-inventions of the classics to cutting-edge premieres, in genres ranging from dance, theater and performance arts to comedy, music and film.

NYU Skirball’s unique position within New York University enables it to draw on the University’s intellectual riches and resources to enhance its programming with dialogues, public forums and conversations with artists, philosophers, scientists, Nobel Laureates, and journalists. nyuskirball.org.