Join us for a special concert in celebration of Persian American composer Reza Vali’s seventieth birthday, featuring the world premiere of his piece Esfahan (Calligraphy No.17), performed by the Carpe Diem String Quartet with accompanying calligraphy animation by designer Omid Nemalhabib.

Described by Corinna da Fonseca-Wolheim of The New York Times as “vibrant and richly expressive,” Vali’s music blends Western classical language with Persian folk songs and idioms into beautiful and textured works. Since 2000, Vali’s music has been based on the Persian modal system, the Dastgâh-Maghâm, exploring the potential of this highly advanced musical system.

This performance will feature an all–Reza Vali program of string quartet music, from earlier works such as Folk Songs (Set No.11B) to Vali’s most recent work Dashti (Calligraphy No.18) for singing string quartet, as well as Esfahan (Calligraphy No.17) for string quartet with video projection.