Don’t miss the Washington-area concert debut of Sounds of the Homeland, a new ensemble based in California that performs contemporary, classical, and traditional Iranian music and will provide the musical highlight to our annual Nowruz celebration. The ensemble was founded by composer and kamanche (fiddle) and setar (lute) virtuoso Mehdi Bagheri. He co-directs the group with fellow composer and tar (lute) specialist Sahba Motallebi. The full quintet, which performs lyrics in Persian, Kurdish, and Turkish, also includes Pezhham Akhavas on tombak (drum), Kourosh Moradi on percussion, and Babak Daneshvar on santur (dulcimer) and ‘ud (lute), with all of the artists contributing vocals. Last summer the ensemble gave its debut performance at the Friends of Persian Culture annual conference in Chicago, drawing a sold-out audience of three thousand music lovers. Sahba Motallebi with SOUNDS OF THE HOMELAND Ensemble – Three Performances @ 12:30PM, 2:30PM and 4:30PM