For immediate release
Éclats Nocturnes
Montreal, April 3rd, 2008 - Festival Accès Asie is proud to collaborate with the MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels) during the 2008 Asian Heritage Month celebration. Éclats Nocturnes is a multidisciplinary show based around the theme of meditation. Inspired by Khosro Berahmandi’s paintings, musicians Ziya Tabassian (percussion), Shuni Tsou (bamboo flute), and Nicolas Caloia (bass) compose a multi-tonal melody, and are joined by filmmaker Shahin Pahami and dancer/choreographer Geneviève La. These accomplished artists amalgamate sounds and images, arts and cultures.
Recalling Mussorgsky’s famous piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition, Éclats Nocturnes explores different artistic forms offering a multi-sensory experience. Khosro Berahmandi’s intricate paintings provide the colourful setting for two traditional instruments from Asia, the Chinese dizi (bamboo flute) and the Iranian tombak (percussion). Modern electric bass jazz rhythms are incorporated to produce a truly global sound. Choreographer and dancer Geneviève La provides her interpretations of the paintings through the rhythms and movements of her body while film images are projected as a final layer on to the hypnotic stage atmosphere. Together, the six artists merge to manifest tradition and innovation, individuals and communities.
Khosro Berahmandi (Painting)
Born in Tehran, Iran, Khosro Berahmandi studied painting with Paterson Ewen and developed a specific technique based on ancient Indo-Iranian miniatures, traditional American Indian art and modern art. Having participated in more than twenty exhibitions in the US, Europe and Canada, Khosro Berahmandi has also recently illustrated for a collected publication of Iranian poetry. As Accès Asie’s General Director, Khosro is committed as an artist and as a diplomatic catalyst between cultures.
Shuni Tsou (Bamboo Flute)
Shuni Tsou was born in Taiwan where she followed the traditional Fu Hsing Ju Hsiao studies at the prestigious Taipei National Opera School. Passionate of the dizi, the Chinese bamboo flute, Shuni started touring at the age of 13. Recipient of many national Taiwanese Chinese flute competitions, she has participated as an invited musician at the Venice Biennale, the Vision Festival, the Taiwan National Theatre and Concert Hall, the Rockefeller Center, Festival Accès Asie, Festival Musique Multi-Montréal and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
Ziya Tabassian (Percussion)
Iranian-born percussionist Ziya Tabassian is perfecting and mastering the artistry of the tombak, a principal instrument in traditional Iranian music. Ziya Tabassian has specialized in the world of ancient music (Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque) as well as in contemporary and world music. He is a founding member of the Constantinople Ensemble and has played in numerous concerts in Canada, the US, Mexico and Europe. Ziya has also performed as a soloist in Montreal, in Ottawa and at the Tunisian International Percussion Forum.
Nicolas Caloia (Double-bass)
Double-bass player Nicolas Caloia possesses a long time passion for jazz music. He studied in New York under Lisle Ellis and Fred Hopkins, the grand masters of the US avant-garde jazz movement. As a member of Montreal’s contemporary music scene, Nicolas has played with local artists Malcolm Goldstein, Laurie Freedman, Sam Shalabi and Michel F Côté, and also with musicians of international calibre such as Joe McPhee, Joe Giardullo, Steve Lacy, Hassan Hakmoun and Tristan Honsinger. He has recorded with the quartet Tilting and composed for the Ratchet Orchestra, an ensemble of 27 musicians dedicated to performing original music. For the label No Type, he has recorded Presence with drummer John Heward and guitarist Chris Burns.
Shahin Pahami (Film)
Hailing from Shiraz, Iran, Shahin Parhami is a film aficionado who came to Canada in 1988. After studying film and production at Ottawa’s Carleton University and Concordia University in Montreal, Shahin directed his first movie Nasoot in 1997, which toured the festival circuit. This was the first part of a trilogy on Iran and the diaspora, which he later concluded with Lahoot (1998) and Jabaroot (2003). His most recent documentary, Faces (2007), demonstrates his interest in the themes of exile, identity politics and the evolution of ancestral cultures within multiethnic and multicultural contexts.
Geneviève La (Dance)
A Montrealer for 10 years, Geneviève La shares her heritage between Quebec and Vietnam. Her choreography is influenced by her studies in contemporary art and modern dance at Les Ateliers de Danse Moderne de Montréal (LADMMI). Geneviève La has danced for Iréni Stamou, Roger Sinha, Mélanie Demers, Jean-François Déziel, Brigitte Haenjtens and Louise Bédard. Her more recent works, Petites prières and Des racines et des ailes received excellent reviews.
La is now working on projects with filmmaker and photographer Véro Boncompagni and is collaborating with actor, Jean-François Casabonne for the piece Musica Nocturna that will be presented this year at Danse-Cité.
Performances from May 1st to May 3rd at 8 p.m.
MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels)
3680, rue Jeanne-Mance
Information: (514) 982-3386 (MAI) or (514) 523-1047 (Accès Asie)
Entrance Fee: regular price-$20, reduced price-$18 Student price- $15
Press Relations (Accès-Asie): Olga Pudelko (514) 570-0931
Public Relations (MAI): Aneth Sin 982-1812, poste 227