Tehran, 18 October 2006 (CHN Foreign Desk) -- Shahram Nazeri, famous Iranian vocalist, will perform in a concert in New York City in commemoration of the great Persian poet, Rumi on 28-29 of October. He will be accompanied by his son, Hafez, and the Rumi Ensemble.

The project entitled “A Soul of Asia Program: In the Path of Rumi,” is created and composed by Hafez Nazeri. The Rumi Ensemble, including Dave Eggar, Liuh Wen Ting, Pejman Hadadi, and Shane Shanahan, professional musicians from India, Taiwan, the United States and other countries will play cello, viola, daf, dammam, and setar in this concert, integrating classical Iranian and Western musical traditions.

In an interview with CHN, Shahram Nazeri said that the concert will be attended by artists, writers, poets and intellectuals who are familiar with Rumi’s literary works and have studied this great Persian poet. “Coleman Barks, American renowned poet and writer and Rumi interpreter who has composed several books about Rumi as well as a translation of his poems into English, will recite some poems of Rumi before the concert,” said Shahram Nazeri to CHN.

Molana Jalal-e din Mohammad Balkhi, commonly known as Rumi, was a Persian philosopher and mystic of Islam who wrote his poems in Persian language. The popularity of his poetry has spread in the west because of its heart-felt themes of lover-beloved mysticism and its spiritual joy which seems to originate even from the most distorted versions in English. The beauty of Rumi’s poems transcends the scope of belief, location and time. Rumi has been hailed by western scholars as the greatest mystical poet of all time. His words reveal beauty and ecstasy of Sufism. Translations of Rumi’s poetry brought this great Persian poet international recognitions. Consequently, UNESCO announced the year 2007 as the International Rumi Year which also coincides with the 800th anniversary of Rumi’s birth. During the next year some special ceremonies and programs will be held all over the world to commemorate this great Persian poet.

Celebrating next year’s 800th birthday of Rumi, this concert will launch the Sufi Traditions and Music as new interpretations of transcendent vision series.

Soul of Asia is supported by Harold J. and Ruth Newman. Additional support is provided by the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

The program will be held in 28 and 29 of October this year in Asia Society and Museum at 725 Park Ave, NY and will start at 6 p.m.

For further information, please visit the website of Asia Society at www.asiasociety.org