Lecture

Niyaz has created a 21st century global trance tradition by seamlessly blending medieval Sufi poetry and folk songs from their native Iran and its surrounding countries in the Persian Gulf, with rich acoustic instrumentation and state‐of‐the‐art modern electronic music. In this conversation, the artists will talk about the roots of their work and engage in a larger exploration of the long and storied history of Iranian American immigration. 

This is part of a weeklong brownbag lunch conversation series with Niyaz. 

Band members will discuss the eighth‐century Muslim saint who served as the inspiration for their latest work, Rabia al‐Basri, who set forth the doctrine of Divine Love and non‐duality, which today lies at the heart of Sufi mysticism. They will discuss the shared, but eventually diverging, histories of Islam and Sufism to explore the similarities and differences between the two.  

This is part of a weeklong brownbag lunch conversation series with Niyaz. 

Musicians Azam Ali and Loga Ramin Torkian, who the  Huffington Post calls “an evolutionary force in contemporary Middle Eastern music,”  will discuss their latest work, The Fourth Light Project. The conversation will be recorded for distribution on the podcast, Hancher Presents.  

This event is free and open to the public and attendees are encouraged to bring their lunch.