Aynur is one of the most iconic and influential voices of Kurdish music today. Over her 25-year career, she has reshaped the musical landscape by blending the deep-rooted traditions of Kurdish folk music with contemporary Western influences, creating a timeless and globally resonant musical language. Her extraordinary voice and motive storytelling represent the rich cultural heritage of her roots, reinterpreted as a universal genre.

Aynur has collaborated with world-renowned musicians and ensembles, including Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, Maestro Riccardo Muti, Kayhan Kalhor, Javier Limón, Kinan Azmeh, the Nederland Blazers Ensemble, and the NDR Big Band. These partnerships have expanded her artistic spectrum and elevated Kurdish music to a global platform. Her remarkable talent has also been featured in acclaimed films, including Fatih Akın’s Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul and Morgan Neville’s The Music of Strangers, which documents her journey with the Silk Road Ensemble.

Islandman, a music trio in this realm but a fictional character in reality, is a musical identity, a visionary, a full spectrum experience.

Their music can be described as a unique blend of smooth electronic textures and dance beats with spacey live guitars backed by shamanic rhythms. The power of the band comes from the perfect balance between electronic structures and acoustic harmonies: Turkish psychedelica meets African roots music.

Swissa-Moroccan multi-instrumentalist and producer emerging from the alternative scenes of Switzerland, Sami Galbi draws from his parallel musical universes to create his own sound.

He embraces north african raï and chaâbi and blends it up with some of the electronic beats and textures that shaped his upbringing ambidextrously.

His influences feature US hip-hop, UKbass, House and Afro-Caribbean dance music. Using analog machines, raw synthesizers and theelectric guitar, and borrowing from the codes of postmodern urban music, Sami delivers highly energetic performances.

Saliah (pronounced SAAL-YA) is a British Lebanese Electronic music producer and DJ. Playing her debut Boiler Room and Glastonbury sets and being named one of Virtuoso’s ‘Ones to watch’, Saliah is renowned for her unique blends of acapellas, UK Bass, popular Arabic classics and a range of ground-shaking Electronic genres; Saliah’s curated selection and stage presence guarantees explosive energies on the dancefloor. She has supported MOBO-Award-Winning Lady Leshurr and BBC Introducing’s Miss Melody. Her performances have opened for familiar jazzhane' family members, such as Omar Souleyman, Shkoon, and others.

Saliah is continuously working behind the scenes supporting Diversity and Inclusion, safer spaces and speaking on panels for social change.

This workshop explores microtonal tonal systems and modal approaches from Arabic, Kurdish, Persian, and Turkish Maqam traditions, as well as North African grooves and modes.

The focus lies on practical approaches to:

Introduction to Maqams and microtonal modes

Microtonal modulation in modal and harmonic contexts

Developing an individual musical language rooted in personal backgrounds and traditions

Application in improvisation and composition

Ensemble work & Arrangements
Selected arrangements by Mahan Mirarab will be studied and performed together. Rhythm, microtonality, and improvisation are integrated within the ensemble context. The aim is to implement musical concepts practically and deepen intercultural playing techniques through collective music-making.

Mahan Mirarab is a musician and composer. He grew up in the Iranian capital Tehran and lives in Vienna. Anyone who listens to Mirarab play his multi-neck guitar understands the» honest language« the artist articulates in his music. 

European elements of chamber music combined with contemporary forms of jazz. They open a new interpretation of Iranian classical music.

He represents a generation of young migrant musicians in Europe who are changing the sound borders in the music industry and are pushing for more diversity with respect to quality, dialogue, and creativity. His aim is to introduce a new narrative through music in regard to middle eastern cultures and jazz and in doing so he has succeeded to create his complex yet approachable style.

His approach to composition and arrangement introduces a unique blend of rhythms and harmonies that showcases his rich musical vocabulary as well as his depth of knowledge in many different music styles. As a result, his compositions avoid so brilliantly cliche and expand the understanding of how each style can be interpreted. Mirarab is composing, arranging, and performing in many jazz, experimental, acoustic/electronic, folk, and traditional projects as well as film, dance, and theatre.

In 2022, Mirarab played over 70 concerts around the world. He also released his latest album, recorded with his fixed sextet during the Corona Pandemic. With »Say Your Most Beautiful Word« Mirarab finds a way of articulation that goes beyond playing the guitar. It’s as much a request as it is a guide to confronting and communicating one’s feelings — an attitude toward life grounded in trust and culminating in one word: Hope.

Jazz, therefore, defines as a kind of philosophy by Mirarab. It is a way of solidarity, how to fight for one’s identity, he says. »As a migrant in Europe, I bring strong influences from my cultural background «, Mirarab amplifies. »Through the philosophy of jazz, I find my own language, with the help of which I can break out of traditional conventions.« 

That this liberation is evident in the combination of elements of European and Persian classical music is becoming increasingly important to Mirarab. He doesn’t present tradition, but represents it anew — in music that provokes practical diversion and analytical complexion, but is always defined by the relationship of rhythm to the body: »Even if the pieces are difficult to play, the focus is on making it groove.«

Introduction to Djing with Saliah. Stay tuned, more to come soon!

We will announce more artists, shows, and workshops soon! Stay tuned!