The Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (OSAC) Prairie debut presents the Khosravi Stadnicki duo at the Mae Wilson Theatre on Tuesday, Jan 10, 2023, at 7:00 p.m.
Iranian born Farhad Khosravi plays the santur, a Persian hammered dulcimer string instrument that is played by beating.
“I picked up santur because that was the only musical instrument I had seen from up close,” Khosravi said.
Music for Khosravi is fundamental to connecting the musical piece with a story that complements and empathizes with the narration of the story. “I usually try to have a story, even though not fully detailed about the piece and how the melody is following that story. This helps me give structure to the music,” he says.
Khosravi performed and collaborated with many artists and theatre assemblies in Iran before coming to Canada to pursue his studies at the University of Alberta in 2012. He has performed as a solo artist and collaborated with Pegah Ensemble and Karim Gillani. In 2015, he was admitted to the prestigious World Music Residency program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. There he studied with world-renowned musicians Charbel Rouhana, Yogesh Samsi, Didem Basar, Durba Ghosh, Kiya Tabassian and Ziya Tabassian. He composed the musical piece “Spring in Banff” during his time there which premiered at the Banff Margaret Greenham theatre in Mar. 2015.
He won the 2020 Edmonton Music Prize and was nominated for the 2018 Western Canadian Music Awards – World Artist of the Year and Edmonton Music Awards – World Music Recording of the Year. He also achieved Edmonton Arts Council Individual Project Grant Honors and was shortlisted for the Edmonton Music Prize 2017.
Khosravi says he met Daniel Stadnicki through his wife since both are part of the Baha’i Community. He was looking for a drummer whose style was neither Persian nor the usual Western drumkit.
“When I saw Daniel play at the show, I knew I had found the right person,” says Khosravi.
While composing a song, Khosravi brings in the new pieces and plays them a few times and then Stadnicki creates his own piece to complement the musical piece together. He says, “Daniel creates his magic for that piece.”
Although the duo does not have a collaborative composition, they do have some fun experiences together and are looking forward to performing in Moose Jaw.
Khosravi says he is working on new musical pieces that are instrumentally based and are recollections of short stories, which will be arranged for the Santur and string quartet. The hope is that it will be finished by the end of 2023.
“For me, the story behind the music is very important. That’s why I am working on a project of instrumental music that is written on a collection of short stories.”
Khosravi Stadnicki duo will be performing in OSAC Performing Arts at Mae Wilson Theatre. Grab your tickets Sasktix.ca and watch the Prairie debut of the duo. Tickets are priced at $29.60 for adults, $24.31 for seniors and $20.09 for students.
“I am very excited to meet and talk to the members of the Moose Jaw Community,” said Khosravi. “This will be my first time in Saskatchewan and Moose Jaw, and I look forward to playing music there.”
