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.

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.