Performers
Maestro Hossein Omoumi and Dr Alan Williams.

Date
5 November 2002 – 7.30pm.

Venue
Purcell Room, South Bank, London SE1 8XX.

Organised by
The Iran Heritage Foundation and the Nava Art Group.

Box Office
020 7960 4242, www.rfh.org.uk [online].

Tickets
£15 (concessions £12).

Enquiries
020 7493 4766, info@iranheritage.org.

Supported by
Farhad Sa’adat and Ali Sarikhani.

Introduction
Mowlana Jalal al-Din Balkhi, or Jalal al-Din Rumi as he is known in the West, is the greatest mystical poet of the Islamic ‘Sufi’ tradition. Born in 1207 in Balkh (now in Afghanistan), he died in 1273 in Konya (now in Turkey). His great reputation rests partly on the voluminous Masnavi-ye Ma‘navi ‘Spiritual Couplets’ of his mature years. It is the longest (26,000 couplets) and most consummate mystical poem in Persian, perhaps in any language. It teaches the way out of alienation, exile and slavery to the self and towards the goal of union with the source of all love and knowledge, in the divine.

The programme starts with the opening passage of the whole work, which meditates on the power of the reed-flute (ney) to call men and women back to their true spiritual origin. The poetry is introduced and translated into English by Dr Williams, and is followed by the original Persian poetry, spoken, sung, and played on ney by Maestro (Ostad) Hossein Omoumi. The programme continues with two of Rumi’s most famous stories - funny, sad and unexpected! Then follow some passages of sublimely beautiful mystical reflection. The sound of the words and the instruments flows through the evening, which ends with a virtuoso performance by maestro Omoumi and his accompanists on frame drum (daf). Burt Caesar will join Dr Williams and Maestro Omoumi for some of the passages.

Maestro Hossein Omoumi – Studied ney and also avaz (voice) since childhood, with grand maestros of classical Persian music. He is now himself recognized as a virtuoso maestro of ney and avaz. He teaches Persian music at the Centre for the Study of Oriental Music at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. His research on the making and physical properties of the ney, along with his scientific knowledge of the instrument, have led to new possibilities in his performance technique.

Dr Alan Williams – Read Persian and Arabic at the University of Oxford, and took a PhD in Iranian Studies from the University of London (SOAS). He has worked on editing and translating texts from the Zoroastrian tradition and also the Islamic Sufi tradition. He is Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester.

Burt Caesar – Is an acclaimed actor who works in national radio and TV, film and theatre; his work has included the Nobel prize winning poet Derek Walcott’s ‘The Schooner Flight’ on BBC Radio 3.