Papaya: Yasamin Shahhosseini & Tristan Driessens

Koncert: Yasamin Shahhosseini & Tristan Driessens

For English: see below!

Aftenens to solister fra hhv. Iran og Belgien spiller begge oud – et strengeinstrument uden bånd (som f.eks. på en violin og i modsætning til på en guitar), hvor strengene anslås med plekter. Instrumentet er (med mindre variationer) fælles for bl.a. Iran, Tyrkiet og den arabiske verden og kan ses som en slags forløber for guitaren og lutten. Instrumentet har en pæreformet krop og har som regel 11 eller 13 strenge, hvoraf de fleste (10 eller 12) er dobbeltstrenge.

English presentation:

With the Luthopia duet series, Belgian oud player Tristan Driessens initiates a project which reflects a dream of many years. For this very first edition, he enters a dialogue with Iranian oud master Yasamin Shahhosseini. Comprising of both solo and duet parts, a concert with Luthopia highlights the richness of the oud, an Eastern lute emblematic in both Persian and Turkish-Arabic music over the course of many centuries. With modal improvisations and traditional as well as new compositions, Luthopia creates an atmosphere of contemplation and joy, showcasing the multifaceted expressive possibilities of the oud as a solo and accompanying instrument. As the project title suggests, with the oud as a common thread, Luthopia believes in the “utopia” of reuniting musicians and audiences through music and poetry from different cultural legacies, flourishing within the uniting language of dialogue.

The word “utopia” in its original meaning can be translated as “no place”, from the Greek words οὐ (not) and τόπος (place). In the mystical poetry of 13th Century Persian poet Rumi, “no place” (La mekân) refers to a state of emptiness, where man reunites with the divine.

Yasamin Shahhosseini, a native of Tehran, has distinguished herself as a leading young master of the oud. Though the oud has deep roots in Iranian music history, it largely gave way to the tar and kamancha in the performance of the classical dastgah repertoire that was canonised in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These days, a cohort of talented advocates is bringing renewed attention to the place of the oud in Iranian music.

Among them, Yasamin Shahhosseini is highly regarded for her work with a variety of innovative ensembles as well as for her solo compositions and improvisations. Her live performances and

recordings shine both for their technical finesse and for the thoughtful way that she incorporates traditional material into a fresh and original musical language.

Yasamin Shahhosseini is an active musical collaborator across musical styles and genres both within Iran and internationally as she explores and expands the possibilities of the oud. Her first solo album, Gāhān, released in 2015 by Kherad Art House Records, features a collection of her own works for oud that, while referencing traditional Iranian melodic modes, reveals a contemporary compositional sensibility.

Tristan Driessens is a Belgian oud player and composer active mainly in the field of Ottoman music, Early Music as well as modal jazz. After finishing two master’s degrees in Musicology (University Libre de Bruxelles) and Turkish ‘ûd (Lemmens), Tristan Driessens quickly embarked upon a successful musical journey with the Lâmekân Ensemble, which he founded in 2011. He played and recorded with Kayhan Kalhor and Kudsi Erguner in numerous projects and with many other renowned musicians around the world. From 2016 to 2020, he worked for world music house Muziekpublique as the artistic director of Refugees for Refugees, an orchestra with a strong message that toured all over Europe to unanimous critical acclaim.

Tristan Driessens recorded over ten albums for record labels in Belgium and abroad, such as MMT (Turkey), Cypres Records (Belgium), Mahoor Institute for Culture and Arts (Iran) as well as his own association Seyir Muzik. As for 2023, he released his latest effort “Lahza – A Glimpse”, a solo album consisting of free oud improvisations.

Tristan Driessens’ musical career is marked by an exceptional range of fruitful collaborations with musicians and ensembles from all over the world: Derya Türkan, Arianna Savall, Ross Daly, Michalis Kouloumis, Christos Barbas, Bijan Chemirani, Adel Shams El Din, Andrea Piccioni, Pascale Dusapin, Tcha Limberger, amongst many others.

Arrangeret af Papaya & Huset

Med støtte fra Kunstrådet & Aalborg Kommune