TEHRAN-Renowned Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor is to take the stage in Gwangju, South Korea, along with Kiya Tabassian and Navid Afghah.

Their performance is scheduled for August 31, as part of the 15th Asian Cultural Center (ACC) World Music Festival, ISNA reported.

The festival, held from August 30 to September 1, is a prestigious global event celebrating a diverse array of musical genres and traditions. This year, it will feature performances ranging from the renowned Korean pop group Kim Chang-Wan to an ensemble of Iranian music led by Kalhor.

Kalhor, a master of kamancheh (a traditional Iranian string instrument), and Tabassian, a virtuoso of setar (another Iranian string instrument), will be performing alongside Afghah, who plays the tombak (traditional Persian drum). The trio has previously performed together in Germany, the Netherlands, and Canada.

The festival promises a mesmerizing array of performances, including soundscapes that paint vivid landscapes, spontaneous traditional instrumentals, fusions of electronic and traditional music, and a harmonious blend of Eastern and Western music.

The other international artists and bands performing at the event include Yosi Horikawa from Japan, IBERI from Georgia, Elements of Baraka from Morocco, Khusugtun Band from Mongolia, and OMNION from Czech Republic.

“This year’s World Music Festival aims to establish itself as a premier festival representing Gwangju and Asia. We’ve curated a lineup of top artists to reflect contemporary art and music. We hope families and friends will enjoy this unique opportunity to experience diverse global music,” ACC Foundation President Kim Sun-ok stated.

Asian Culture Center is an international arts and cultural exchange organization that produces new, future-oriented results through the convergence of Asia’s past and present arts and culture with innovative ideas and beliefs.

The ACC plays the role of an integrated platform for participants from Asia and the rest of the world to freely unite and exchange their ideas while transcending boundaries in carrying out the steps of research, creation, and production. At the ACC, diverse and dynamic programs (exhibitions, performances, education, festivals, and other events) using collected research data, resources, etc., are held year-round with the creative output of experts from various fields who have exchanged their creativity and ingenuity with one another.

Kalhor, 60, was born in Tehran to a musically inclined Kurdish family. He began his music journey informally at the age of five. By twelve, he had embarked on a professional music career, collaborating with the Kermanshah Radio and Television Orchestra.

He briefly worked with the Sheida group at the Chavosh Art Center before relocating to Italy at seventeen. After studying music in Rome, he moved to Canada, where he graduated from the music program at Carleton University in Ottawa.

A master of the kamancheh, he is widely known for his stirring improvisations, exquisite compositions, and extensive collaboration with international artists including Chinese American cellist Yo-Yo Ma, New York-based string quartet Brooklyn Rider, American string band Kronos Quartet, Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov, Turkish musician and singer Erdal Erzincan, and many other orchestras around the world.

Kalhor has composed works for and played alongside the famous Iranian traditional vocalists Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Shahram Nazeri. He has also composed and performed with the Indian sitar player Shujaat Husain Khan and Indian tabla player Swapan Chaudhuri in the group Ghazal.

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