Safar

For centuries, Afghanistan – as war correspondents often seem to forget – was famous for its cultural diversity and especially, its music: “In western societies it is often difficult to imagine just how important people find the beauty of music in this country, how deep the feeling goes“, says Roger Willemsen, author of “Afghanische Reise“ (“Afghan Journey”) about this project.

Safar presents virtuoso traditional music from Kabul and also pursues the notion of “cross fertilization“. Ustad Ghulam Hussein is Kabul’s leading rubab player and a guardian of Afghan classical traditions. Now, he performs in Germany with musicians who have accompanied him all his life and are coming to play in Europe for the first time: the dilruba player Ustad Amruddin, the tabla player Jawed Mehmood, the flutist and dhol player Abdul Latif and Mohammad Ehsan Irfan on the tanbur. He is supported by musicians from Germany, Jörg Holdinghausen on the electric bass, guitarist Arne Jansen and drummer Jan Burkamp, as they perform music that offers great scope for improvisation and innovation.

In co-operation with Hochschule für Musik FRANZ LISZT Weimar