JAMMING FOR PEACE

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On-Line Sale is now closed but tickets are available at the door.


Music From Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Beyond

Saturday, October 28, 7 – 10 PM
First Congregational Church - United Church of Christ
1126 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR 97205
$15 general, $10 students




In the 1980s Iran and Iraq were at war for eight years and hundreds of thousands of people from both sides became victims of the devastating struggle. The significance of this concert is that master musicians from Iran and Iraq will join to perform for PEACE, emphasizing the fact that people are at peace with each other, regardless of what their governments are doing. In order to add more color to this harmonious experience, Yens Ses will present some Turkish and Jewish songs.



Honorary Master of Ceremony: Diana Abu-Jaber
Author of best seller and award winners “The Crescent”, “Arabian Jazz”, and “Language of Baklava”. She teaches at Portland State University.



Rahim Al-Haj
The Iraqi oud musician and composer graduated from the prestigious Baghdad Conservatory and performed widely in the Middle East and Europe with his teacher Munir Bashir. He was forced to leave Baghdad in 1991 due to his activism against Saddam Hussein’s regime and relocated to the US as a political refugee in 2000. He has released four CD's since then: “The Second Baghdad,” 2002; “Iraqi Music in a Time of War,” 2003; “Friendship: Oud/String Quartet Ensemble,” 2005; “When the Soul is Settled: Music of Iraq,” Smithsonian Folkways Recordings 2006. Rahim Al-Haj has performed most recently at the Kennedy Center. www.rahimalhaj.com




Hossein Omoumi
Performer on Iranian Ney (Reed Flute) and music scholar at the University of Tehran, the Sorbonne in Paris, UCLA and most recently the University of Washington. His international performances and recordings are too numerous to list but include joined releases with well-known Iranian vocal artists Sima Bina and Parisa. Pouria Sayrafi and Reza Mazloomi will accompany him on Tombak and Daf (Persian Goblet and Frame drums). www.omoumi.com

Yeni Ses (New Voice)
Derya Baykent vocalist, Sedat Uysal on saz, Peter Lippman on saz and Kim Goldov on violin. Yeni Ses, a Seattle based group of Turkish and American musicians, performs traditional and modern folklore music of Turkey and beyond. In addition Kim Goldov will present some Jewish tunes.


Co-sponsored by McKenzie River Gathering Foundation, Middle East Studies Center at Portland State University, Department of Political Science at Reed College, Andisheh Center, American Friends Service Committee, CASMII, First Unitarian Church, First Congregational Church, Ziba Design, Visual Concept, Iranian American Professional Society of Oregon, KBOO Community Radio, Mercy Corps International, Peace and Justice Works - Iraq Afinity, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Vancouver for Peace, Veterans for Peace Chapter 72, and others.

Iran Forum: Bomb...,
or Path out of Crisis

Sunday, October 29, 2 PM

First Unitarian Church, Salmon Street Sanctuary
At 12th and Salmon in downtown Portland
Free Admission

William Beeman, author of “The ‘Great Satan’ vs. the ‘Mad Mullahs’ – How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other.” W. Beeman is Professor of Anthropology and Director of Middle East Studies at Brown University. Dr. Beeman has traveled to Iran many times and speaks fluent Persian. In his book he approaches possibilities for conflict resolution to the crisis from an anthropological point of view and with impressive insight.

Abbas Maleki, Unfortunately Dr. Maleki could not join us in this forum due to his mother's illness and extension of his stay in Iran.

Soheila Vahdati, is a Human Rights advocate and researcher. Dr. Vahdati is passionately involved with Iranian democracy movement in general and the women struggle in particular. She frquently writes about the women's movement in Iran for Persian journals .

Rostam Pourzal, has been a journalist and human rights activist in Washington, DC. He currently heads the U.S. branch of Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (www.CASMII.org). He holds a B.A. and an M.A. in cultural anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied modernization and social upheaval."

Ronault Latang Sayang Catalani ('Polo'), author of "talking-stories." Polo is a civil rights attorney and community activist. He writes for the Asian Reporter, for Oregon Public Radio and for WUWM Wisconsin. Polo has lived in Iran as a research graduate student in late 1970s.