Jazz Piano Meets Kurdish kamanche

A rare musical collaboration at Toronto’s musical heritage venue Canadian Music Centre - the Kurdish Kamānche meets the Jazz Piano to form unique voices of modern musical language. Diane Roblin Toronto’s Jazz pianist and improviser will be joining the Kurdish kamānche player Shahriyar Jamshidi to illustrate a novel picture of the musical imagination inspired by the diverse musical heritage of two traditions. Individual solos, duo improvisations, and epic Kurdish songs will be presented in two sets during the ninety-minute musical journey.

Diane Roblin’s dynamic career in music has placed her among Canada’s venerable women in improvised music. Composer, pianist, electric keyboardist, improviser, and band leader, Diane effortlessly harnesses technical agility to center music’s power of connection. She is based in Toronto where she currently leads her Life Force sextet, a “virtuosic ensemble of Canadian hotshots” (JAZZFM 91.1) which plays Diane’s diverse compositions that blend her broad influences ranging from high-energy jazz-funk to impressionism. From rockin' Rough Trade to avant-garde musician Charles Gayle, her performance experience has been eclectic. Classically trained in Buffalo NY, her studies at York University in Toronto were diverse and wide-ranging including world musics, mrdungam (Trichy Shankaran), electronic music (David Rosenboom) and jazz improvisation. She participated in the Ornette Coleman/Karl Berger workshop in NYC with renown musicians such as Lee Konitz, and at the Dutch Improv Academy with Hans Bennick. As a global improviser, Diane is also a member of Sarah Weaver’s NowNetArts international telematic ensemble. She has performed throughout Europe, Mexico, and North and South America. Diane is a member of the Association of Canadian Women Composers.

“Shahriyar Jamshidi is an illustrious Kurdish Kamanche player, composer and singer with a pronounced cultural background who has devoted his artistic profession to the preservation and transmission of the Kurdish musical heritage. Shahriyar is also well-known for his creative and masterful kamānche improvisations, both as a soloist and in ensembles.”

In celebrating the diversity and equity in arts and music in Canada and all around the globe, Shahriyar reverberates his solo instrumental performances on Kamānche (spiked fiddle) to highlight Kurdish musical heritage and present a part of West and Central Asian musical culture. In his Kurdish Kamānche recital, he shares a taste of Mesopotamian culture alongside the capability of Kamānche as a soloist instrument on every stage.

Shahriyar had a successful concert and residency at the University of Glasgow last October. As well, this year he performed a concerto with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He recently performed his solo recital at D.F Cook Hall, Memorial University featured by “Sound Symposium XXI” in St John’s. Shahriyar’s last recording My Sunset-Land Rojava is dedicated to all women who lost their lives to liberate Rojava (Western Kurdistan) in North and East Syria.

Door Opens: 🕖7:00 PM

Concert Starts: 🕢7:30 PM

Advance Ticket: $25

At the Door on day of the concert: $30