Nagmeh Javdaneh - Lutruwita Art Orchestra

It is an extraordinary experience being part of the LAO. This year's feature project was Nagmeh Javdaneh, an exploration of Iranian music that we developed under the guidance of setar player and vocalist Ehsan Zabihi. It was a two set performance including dance and recitation of poetry by Marzi Riazi, also featuring Sina Tarkesh Esfahani. The creative development took place over six months with ensemble members memorizing Farsi lyrics, learning and harmonizing melodies and practicing Persian rhythms.

We did three performances over two days at the Theatre Royal supported by our own production manager and sound tech, and the lovely TR crew. We were blown away by the audience response! As Sina noted in his remarks, it is rare that Persian people have a chance to hear their own music live in their adopted country. We were deeply moved having the audience sing Morge Sahar, a prayer for peace and unity, with us as the closing number.

LAO is committed to creating music as a way of working towards inclusion and social justice, music as a force for good, music to lift us all up. It is an honour to be part of it.