Samarange Ltd.

Saheba Davlatshaeva and Aqnazar Alovatov, great interprets of Sacred songs "falaq" from Badakhshan, a region from the Pamiri Mountain in Tadjikistan, are invited to perform at the Sacred Voices Conference held in Windsor Castle on January 31st and at the Ismaili Center on February 2nd.

In the southeast of Tajikistan, where the majestic Pamir Mountains reach heights only slightly lower than those of the Himalayas, local traditions of devotional song, mystical music, and dance have flourished among mountain-dwelling Pamiri peoples, many of whom are Isma’ili Muslims. The Isma’ilis, whose spiritual leader, or imam, is His Highness the Aga Khan, have cultivated distinct cultural and religious practices that, combined with Badakhshan’s rugged geography, have nourished the preservation of many aspects of traditional culture. Aqnazar, Sahiba, and Shadikhan live in and around Khorog – the regional capital and Badakhshan’s largest city, with a population of around 40,000 – where they earn their livelihood as professional musicians. Their repertory includes maddah – devotional songs that can embody the spiritual power known as baraka, laments with spare instrumental accompaniment called falak, and traditional popular songs, called khalqi. For Badakhshanis, music and dance are intimately linked, and Sahiba, an outstanding dancer as well as one of Badakhshan’s finest female vocalists, illustrates the rich symbolism of Pamiri dance. Aqnazar is particular known for singing the lyrics of Rumi, the great thirteenth-century Sufi poet whose verse provided the inspiration for the Mevlevi (“Whirling”) Dervishes.

The Ensemble Al-Kindi will present the program Sufi Songs from Damascus with Sheikh Hamza Chakour and the Whirling Dervishes of Damascus on January, 21st 2007 in Swansea at Tallin Center.

Featuring Sheikh Hamza Shakkur, one of the greatest performers of Muslim songs and Munshid (Cantor), this sacred concert and Sama session, turns listening into a spiritual experience and is also a spellbinding sight for the eyes. The dance of the dervishes providing the only distraction from total ecstasy.

In partnership with Mondomix.com, Samarange Ltd. is working on the Music Desk development for the International Slavery Museum of Liverpool.

The new Museum will open its display galleries on 23 August 2007, Slavery Remembrance Day. 2007 is the bicentenary of the abolition of the British slave trade and 23 August commemorates the date of the outbreak of the slave rebellion, which created the first independent Black republic of Haiti. The International Slavery Museum will be at Liverpool's Albert Dock, at the centre of a World Heritage site. The location is only yards away from the dry docks where 18th century slave trading ships were repaired and fitted out. One of the greatest groups of national museums in the world, National Museums Liverpool is ideally placed to elevate this subject onto an international stage. The International Slavery Museum will highlight the international importance of slavery and its issues both in a historic and contemporary context. Working in partnership with other museums with a focus on freedom and enslavement, the International Slavery Museum will provide opportunities for greater awareness and understanding of the legacy of slavery today.

The music desk, on display in the Legacy Section of the Museum, will give access to the public to 377 soundtracks and possibly video clips to express the vast heritage of African music in our contemporary world . These soundtracks describes the musical landscape related to: - the roots of Black music and its evolution : eg from West African music to gospel, rhythm & blues, jazz, and rock'n roll to pop, reggae, rap and hip hop, house music, jungle, drum and bass, grime etc - the West African music now and then (before slavery) and the afrocaribbean and latino / brasilian musics derived from them. It will link them to western countries soundtracks and will show how afro american music has influenced african music in return. - the influence of afro-american music among 20th and 21st century - the appropriation of such a heritage by other cultures.

Ensemble Tengir-Too is honoured to play for Temenos Academy, an educational charity which aims to offer education in philosophy and the arts in the light of the sacred traditions of East and West.

Concert will be performed at Saint James Palace in presence of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Patron of the Temenos Academy.

In collaboration with SETA (Chatham), Samarange Ltd is proud to announce the first UK tour for Ensemble Tengir-Too, one of the finest Kyrgyz music ensemble, interpretating traditional music and songs from the Bards and Nomads of Central Asia.

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In March 2006, Samarange Ltd will coordinate the first US tour for the artists of Central Asia.The tour is also promoting the first release of the Anthology of Music from Central Asia, presented and produced by the AKMICA - Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia.

The tour will feature : Homayoun Sakhi - Music of Afghanistan, Tengir-Too - Music of Kyrgyzstan, Academy of Shash Maqam

In 2007, the net tour will feature the following artists : Saheba Davlatshaeva and Aqnazar Alovatov - Music of Badakhshan Alim Qasimov - music of Azerbaidjan Female Bardic Divas

The Ensemble Al-Kindi, one of the best classical arabic music ensemble, will give a unique concert at Barbican Center on November 4th 2005, as part of the program "Nights of the Ramadan". This concert will feature Sheikh Habboush, one of the finest sufi traditional singer from Aleppo (North of Syria), whirling dervishes and the musicians from Ensemble Al-Kindi, leaded by Julien Jâlal Eddine Weiss.

Samarange Ltd. is proud to participate in the production of the Concert programme “Great Voices of Central Asia”, co-presented by The English National Opera (ENO) and The Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia (AKMICA). The programme will open ENO’s “Voice Series”, dedicated to the opera of the 21st century, embracing both established and emerging artists from diverse cultural backgrounds.

The English National Opera has always been dedicated to bringing innovative opera productions to a wide audience. It has produced numerous landmark operas since it was founded in 1898. After a recent four-year renovation and expansion of its home, the London Coliseum theatre, the ENO broadened its mission to reflect the multicultural mix of its home city and a growing appreciation among audiences for diverse forms of “voice”. At ENO, this new artistic era of “voice” embraces both operatic traditions and those beyond opera, including ethnic and folk music.

Since 2004, Samarange is editing the English edition of Mondomix.com, the international reference for world music.