A Musical Evening to Commemorate The

In Association With

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! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! ! ! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! A MUSICAL EVENING ! TO! COMMEMORATE THE INTERNATIONAL DAYA MUSICAL OF NOWRUZ EVENIN G ! TO COMMEMORATE THE INTERNATIONAL ThursdayDAY 22 ndOF March NOWRUZ 2018

nd ThursdayAsia House 22 March 2018

Asia! House ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! CO-SPONSORS ! ! ! CO-SPONSORS! ! !

!!! ! ! ! ! !!! ! ! ! AAA MusicalMusical Musical EveningEvening Evening tototo CommemorateCommemorate Commemorate thethe the InternationalInternational International DayDay Day ofof of NOWRUZNOWRUZ NOWRUZ atatat 6.30pm6.30pm 6.30pm--8.30pm8.30pm-8.30pm onon on ThursdayThursday Thursday 2222 22ndndnd MarchMarch March 20182018 2018 atat at AsiaAsia Asia House,House, House, 636363 NewNew New CavendishCavendish Cavendish Street,Street, Street, LondonLondon London W1GW1G W1G 7LP7LP 7LP PresentedPresentedPresented inin in AssociationAssociation Association withwith with TalentTalent Talent UnlimitedUnlimited Unlimited (Charity(Charity (Charity Reg:Reg: Reg: 1139220)1139220) 1139220)

ArtistsArtistsArtists

DarraghDarraghDarragh MorganMorgan Morgan -- -violinviolin violin AmirAmirAmir TakeruTakeru Takeru BavarchiBavarchi Bavarchi -- -violinviolin violin LourençoLourençoLourenço SampaioSampaio Sampaio -- -violaviola viola PedroPedroPedro SilvaSilva Silva -- -cellocello cello AdibAdibAdib RostamiRostami Rostami –– – tt ombakombaktombak andand and kamanchehkamancheh kamancheh MehdiMehdiMehdi RostamiRostami Rostami –– – ss etarsetaretar

ProgrammeProgramme Programme

II ntroducedIntroducedntroduced byby by HisHis His ExcellencyExcellency Excellency Mr.Mr. Mr. HamidHamid Hamid Baedinejad,Baedinejad, Baedinejad, AmbassadorAmbassadorAmbassador ofof of thethe the IslamicIslamic Islamic RepublicRepublic Republic ofof of Iran.Iran. Iran.

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ArmenianArmenian Armenian BagatellesBagatelles Bagatelles forfor for StringString String QuartetQuartet Quartet BagatellesBagatelles Bagatelles 1818 18--2626-26 LorisLoris Loris TjeknavorianTjeknavorian Tjeknavorian

FourFour Four HaikusHaikus Haikus forfor for StringString String QuartetQuartet Quartet (London(London (London premiere)premiere) premiere) EdwardEdwardEdward KemptonKempton Kempton

TwoTwo Two PiecesPieces Pieces forfor for StringString String Quartet,Quartet, Quartet, ElegyElegy Elegy && & PolkaPolka Polka (1936)(1936) (1936) DmitriDmitri Dmitri ShostakovichShostakovich Shostakovich

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AAA MusicalMusical Musical EveningEvening Evening tototo CommemorateCommemorate Commemorate thethe the InternationalInternational International DayDay Day ofof of NOWRUZNOWRUZ NOWRUZ atatat 6.30pm6.30pm 6.30pm--8.30pm8.30pm-8.30pm onon on ThursdayThursday Thursday 2222 22ndndnd MarchMarch March 20182018 2018 atat at AsiaAsia Asia House,House, House, 636363 NewNew New CavendishCavendish Cavendish Street,Street, Street, LondonLondon London W1GW1G W1G 7LP7LP 7LP PresentedPresentedPresented inin in AssociationAssociation Association withwith with TalentTalent Talent UnlimitedUnlimited Unlimited (Charity(Charity (Charity Reg:Reg: Reg: 1139220)1139220) 1139220)

ArtistsArtistsArtists

ProgrammeProgramme Programme

ImprovisationsImprovisationsImprovisations forfor for SetarSetar Setar && & TombakTombak Tombak AdibAdibAdib && & MehdiMehdi Mehdi RostamiRostami Rostami

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StringStringString QuartetQuartet Quartet No.No. No. 22 2 CompanyCompany Company PhilipPhilipPhilip GlassGlass Glass

FourFour Four HaikusHaikus Haikus forfor for StringString String QuartetQuartet Quartet (London(London (London premiere)premiere) premiere) EdwardEdwardEdward KemptonKempton Kempton

ImprovisationsImprovisationsImprovisations forfor for SetarSetar Setar && & TombakTombak Tombak AdibAdibAdib && & MehdiMehdi Mehdi RostamiRostami Rostami

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Welcome to this musical evening at Asia House,!! to commemorate the International! Day of NOWRUZ.

Following the musical evening to commemorate the International Day of Nowruz held at the Iranian Embassy in April 2017 and thanks to the kind support and sponsorship this year from Quercus Investment Partners, Britannia Petroleum and Child & Child, we are fortunate in being able to present this evening’s performance at Asia House, as a repeat of the programme performed at the Iranian Embassy yesterday evening.

Since last year’s Nowruz musical evening, a music organisation, INTERNAVA, has been formed by co-founders Ali Adeli, Farokhzad Layegh, Layla Ramezan and Adib Rostami and I am extremely grateful to them for their hard work, support and encouragement. Tonight’s performance is being presented in association with Talent Unlimited (Founder Director: Canan Maxton), a music charity that supports exceptionally talented young musicians from all over the world with their studies in London.

Welcome to this musical evening at Asia House,!! to commemorate the International! Day of NOWRUZ.

This evening’s programme of music is drawn entirely from the 20th and 21st Centuries. The popular minimalist composers Philip Glass and Michael Nyman, the Iranian composer Farokhzad Layegh (a UK premiere), the 22 year-old M.Mus. student Edward Kempton, who takes the inspiration for his latest composition from the music of Takemitsu and Four Haikus by Robert Spiess, the Armenian-Iranian composer Loris Tjeknavorian, who is celebrating his 80th Birthday Anniversary this year and a rarely heard student work by the legendary Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Adib and Mehdi Rostami perform their own improvisations, which they have prepared especially for this evening’s performance. The violinist Darragh Morgan, who leads this evening’s string quartet, is regarded internationally as one the finest exponents of contemporary violin and chamber music. Amongst his many recordings, he has recently recorded Philip Glass’s Piano Trio, which he will be touring concert performances of abroad this year with the Fidelio Trio. I first met the violinist Amir Takeru Bavarchi when I was invited by Maestro Rahbari to conduct the Tehran Symphony Orchestra in 2016. Amir is one of Iran’s finest young violinists. Viola player Lourenço Sampaio was the Portuguese Young Musician of The Year in 2015 and the prizewinning Royal Academy of Music ‘cellist Pedro Silva is Co-Principal Cello of the Anglo- Portuguese Ensemble.

Adib and Mehdi Rostami performed in the same programme as Iranian super-star Kayhan Kalhor at the Barbican Hall in London last September 2017 and they are both establishing worldwide reputations as leading exponents of Persian music.

Private donations offered by audience members this evening will go towards the UN Relief Fund for the victims and the families of last November’s earthquake in Iran.

I hope you have an enjoyable evening. Please feel free to stay and talk with the musicians after the performance.

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! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! The violinist Darragh Morgan, who leads this evening’s string quartet, is regarded internationally as one the finest exponents of contemporary violin and chamber music. Amongst his many recordings, he has recently recorded Philip Glass’s Piano Trio, which he will be touring concert performances of abroad this year with the Fidelio Trio. I first met the violinist Amir Takeru Bavarchi when I was invited by Maestro Rahbari to conduct the Tehran Symphony Orchestra in 2016. Amir is one of Iran’s finest young violinists. Viola player Lourenço Sampaio was the Portuguese Young Musician of The Year in 2015 and the prizewinning Royal Academy of Music ‘cellist Pedro Silva is Co-Principal Cello of the Anglo- Portuguese Ensemble.

Private donations offered by audience members this evening will go towards the UN Relief Fund for the victims and the families of last November’s earthquake in Iran.

I hope you have an enjoyable evening. Please feel free to stay and talk with the musicians after the performance.

! !

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! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ABOUT INTERNAVA

INTERNAVA is a not-for-profit, non-political, music organization, recently formed to support Iranian musicians, Iranian composers and to promote a wider understanding and appreciation of Iranian contemporary music and original Persian music, around the world. Collaboration between Iranian musicians and European musicians will be encouraged, to perform Classical Music and World Music. Professional advice and support will also be offered to exceptionally talented young Iranian musicians who wish to audition for and study at the world’s leading music conservatoires. GENESIS OF INTERNAVA & RELATED EVENTS

April 2017

His Excellency Mr. Hamid Baedinejad, Ambassador of The Islamic Republic of Iran, invited Mark Stephenson (Co-Founder of INTERNAVA) to organise a musical evening at the Iranian Embassy in London to commemorate the International Day of Nowruz, which was attended by a capacity audience of Ambassadors, Diplomats and Cultural Officials. Winner of the Barbad The Britannia Group wishes International Piano Prize in Iran, Ashkan Layegh performed, as did the London- based Kamancheh player Adib Rostami, the Lausanne-based Iranian pianist Layla and Mark Stephenson Ramezan, a specialist in Iranian contemporary piano music and the prizewinning internava Royal Academy of Music cellist Thomas Isaac. every success for the Nowruz Musical Evening

And wishing everyone Nowrouz Mubarak

EGOR PISKOV PHOTOGRAPHY ! !

! ABOUT INTERNAVA

GENESIS OF INTERNAVA & RELATED EVENTS

April 2017

His Excellency Mr. Hamid Baedinejad, Ambassador of The Islamic Republic of Iran, invited Mark Stephenson (Co-Founder of INTERNAVA) to organise a musical evening at the Iranian Embassy in London to commemorate the International Day of Nowruz, which was attended by a capacity audience of Ambassadors, Diplomats and Cultural Officials. Winner of the Barbad International Piano Prize in Iran, Ashkan Layegh performed, as did the London- based Kamancheh player Adib Rostami, the Lausanne-based Iranian pianist Layla Ramezan, a specialist in Iranian contemporary piano music and the prizewinning Royal Academy of Music cellist Thomas Isaac.

EGOR PISKOV PHOTOGRAPHY ! !

! September 2017 Mehdi & Adib Rostami (Co-Founder of INTERNAVA) performed in a concert at TALENT UNLIMITED the Barbican Hall, London, on 29th September 2017, alongside the super-star SHOWCASE Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor.

Vario Duo, Cristian de Sá | Violin Renate Sokolovska | Flute Manu Brazo | Saxophone

! LATEST INTERNAVA NEWS IRANIAN PRODIGY WINS FULL SCHOLARSHIP TO THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC IN LONDON

Widely reported in the music press as Iran’s latest musical prodigy, Ashkan Somi Kim | Piano Tamila Salimdjanova | Piano Prajna Indrawati | Piano Layegh auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music in December 2017 and won a full scholarship to study piano and composition in September 2018. Over 100 pianists were auditioned from all over the world. INTERNAVA supervised the application and audition process, Mark and William Stephenson coached Ashkan before his audition. Ashkan has also been offered a scholarship to participate in master classes at the Oxford Piano Festival in July 2018, under legendary DEBUSSY . DE FALLA . GERSHWIN . IBERT . ITURRALDE concert pianists Brendel, Pressler and Schiff. . MENDELSSOHN . MUCZYNSKI . PROKOVIEV . STEVENSON . STRAVINSKY

THURSDAY, 26th APRIL 2018 at 7PM

St James’s Church, 197 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL Tickets: £20 Adults / £5 Students. Early Bird: £15 ends on 10th March Ticket info: [email protected] https://talent-unlimited-showcase.eventbrite.co.uk EGOR PISKOV PHOTOGRAPHY www.talent-unlimited.org.uk September 2017 Mehdi & Adib Rostami (Co-Founder of INTERNAVA) performed in a concert at the Barbican Hall, London, on 29th September 2017, alongside the super-star Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor.

! LATEST INTERNAVA NEWS IRANIAN PRODIGY WINS FULL SCHOLARSHIP TO THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC IN LONDON

Widely reported in the music press as Iran’s latest musical prodigy, Ashkan Layegh auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music in December 2017 and won a full scholarship to study piano and composition in September 2018. Over 100 pianists were auditioned from all over the world. INTERNAVA supervised the application and audition process, Mark and William Stephenson coached Ashkan before his audition. Ashkan has also been offered a scholarship to participate in master classes at the Oxford Piano Festival in July 2018, under legendary concert pianists Brendel, Pressler and Schiff.

EGOR PISKOV PHOTOGRAPHY Talent Unlimited is a classical music charity providing exposure, mentoring and financial aid to music students (18+) of great talent but limited means. All those FUTURE INTERNAVA PLANS who work for this charity are volunteers and we have no admin expenses. All the TRIPLE STRING QUARTET PROJECT IN! TEHRAN JULY 2018 funds raised are dedicated to our musicians. You can help Talent Unlimited in A Triple String Quartet project (3 String Quartets – 12 players) in Tehran is various ways, by becoming a Friend and also by helping us with our work if you planned for July 2018. Two public concerts at Vahdat Hall by the INTERNAVA have some time to spare. String Quartet, performing contemporary music, side by side with two young Iranian string quartets. Workshops, open rehearsals and master-classes will also be held for the benefit of young Iranian musicians. Help Talent Unlimited (Charity Reg. No. 1139220) by becoming a Friend. ZAL AND THE PHOENIX 2019-2021 INTERNAVA will be commissioning a new concert work from the composer Loris Tjeknavorian, Zal and The Phoenix, for Narrator and Orchestra, the Friends’ Benefits Persian Tale by Abu'l-Q!sim Ferdowsi Tusi (c. 940–1020), from his Shahnameh ("Book of Kings"), which is the world's longest epic poem created by a single £20 - Priority Booking to public concerts and Subscription to our Newsletter poet, and the national epic of Greater Iran. Ferdowsi is celebrated as the most influential figure in Persian literature and one of the greatest in the history of £30 - Two Free tickets to a public concert, Priority Booking to public concerts and literature. This new commission is intended for family and children’s audiences Subscription to our Newsletter in Iran and around the world. The painter Annabel Gosling will be creating £50 - Two Free tickets to two public concerts, Priority Booking to public concerts illustrations for the project. and Subscription to our Newsletter Conductor Mark Stephenson (Co-Founder of INTERNAVA) was Music Director £100 - Subscription to the House Concert mailing list, four Free tickets to two public of the 2008 Oscar-winning animated film of Prokofiev’s Peter & The Wolf. He concerts, Priority Booking to public concerts and Subscription to our Newsletter has also conducted performances of the original score, the story written and the music composed by Prokofiev for Narrator and Orchestra, including performances narrated by Sir David Attenborough and the late Tim Piggott-Smith. National We will gladly take larger sums and also organize the music for your corporate events. premieres in 2019/20 of Zal and The Phoenix are planned to take place in Tehran, Geneva and London, followed by a World Tour, in 2020/21, timed to coincide with the Ferdowsi 1000 Year Commemorations. Please contact: [email protected] for further payment details.

If you are eligible for Gift Aid, please let us know and we will send you a Gift Aid form online or by post. This way the sum you give will be increased by 25% without any cost to yourself.

Talent Unlimited - Registered Charity No 1139220 www.talent-unlimited.org.uk [email protected]

We are very grateful to Cornucopia, Global Airline Services and Ladybug Home Textiles Ltd for their continued support. This event is insured by Clear Insurance Management Ltd. We are most obliged for their kind sponsorship. 17?9<:7!6=B!>P>9:7@!Q7?=9!?Q!:@!F6

If you are eligible for Gift Aid, please let us know and we will send you a Gift Aid form online or by post. This way the sum you give will be increased by 25% without any cost to yourself.

Talent Unlimited - Registered Charity No 1139220 www.talent-unlimited.org.uk [email protected]

Discussions are underway with the Music Museum in Tehran to form an Internava Iran-Iraq earthquake death toll climbs to more than 400 Persian Quartet, four musicians playing original Persian instruments, to Rescuers battle to find survivors trapped under collapsed buildings after the demonstrate instruments featured in the museum’s remarkable ancient instrument collection, for local, foreign visitors and to give regular concerts at the museum. 7.3-magnitude quake There is also an ambition to tour an exhibition of some of the instruments from the Music Museum’s historic collection alongside concerts by the Internava A powerful magnitude-7.3 earthquake has rocked the northern border region Persian Quartet inside Iran and internationally, including some of the spectacular between Iran and Iraq, killing more than 400 people and injuring thousands more. historic houses and palaces of Iran. The Internava Persian Quartet will be led by Mehdi Rostami. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency has raised the death toll to 407 and said 6,700

people were injured after the quake that struck the country’s western provinces at INTERNAVA ORCHESTRA 2019/20 9.20pm local time on Sunday. Tremors were felt hundreds of miles away in both The formation of an Internava Orchestra is at the planning stage. A stellar capitals, in Tehran and Baghdad. orchestra line-up of players will comprise exceptionally gifted young musicians from Iran playing side by side with young European musicians. The plan is for Local officials said the toll was likely to rise as search and rescue teams reached the Internava Orchestra to make its debut at the UN Assembly in Geneva remote areas. More than 70,000 people were in need of emergency shelter, the 2019/2020. Iranian Red Crescent said. INTERNAVA CHARITABLE TRUST 2018 The hardest hit province was Kermanshah, where three days of mourning have An Internava Charitable Trust is being formed in order fund the above projects, been announced. More than 236 people died in the town of Sarpol-e Zahab, about which will be announced soon. 10 miles from the Iraq border. In Kermanshah’s Dalahu County, the local governor was quoted as saying that some villages had been completely destroyed. CO-FOUNDERS !

Ali Adeli, Farokhzad Layegh, Adib Rostami & Mark Stephenson.

CO-SPONSORS 2017

British Airways Yamaha Music London

CO-SPONSORS 2018

Quercus Investment Partners Britannia Petroleum Limited Child & Child

CONTACT INTERNAVA [email protected]

Mark Stephenson +44 (0) 7976 902175 (m) ! ! ! ! ! As reported by Saeed Kamali Dehghan in The Guardian 12th November 2017

Iran-Iraq earthquake death toll climbs to more than 400 Rescuers battle to find survivors trapped under collapsed buildings after the 7.3-magnitude quake

A powerful magnitude-7.3 earthquake has rocked the northern border region between Iran and Iraq, killing more than 400 people and injuring thousands more.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency has raised the death toll to 407 and said 6,700 people were injured after the quake that struck the country’s western provinces at 9.20pm local time on Sunday. Tremors were felt hundreds of miles away in both capitals, in Tehran and Baghdad.

Local officials said the toll was likely to rise as search and rescue teams reached remote areas. More than 70,000 people were in need of emergency shelter, the Iranian Red Crescent said.

The hardest hit province was Kermanshah, where three days of mourning have been announced. More than 236 people died in the town of Sarpol-e Zahab, about 10 miles from the Iraq border. In Kermanshah’s Dalahu County, the local governor was quoted as saying that some villages had been completely destroyed. !

! ! ! ! ! inter nava