"In a time when the world has been separated by political and religious fundamentalism, we give the message of peace," says Aryan Rahmanian, the lead vocalist of the Neydavood Ensemble. For the past several years the ensemble has been actively pursuing its mission to preserve and promote Persian classical and folk music as well as the beautiful regional music of Iran.

The ensemble's leader is Ashkan Ghafouri, master of the tar (long-necked, waisted lute) and setar (small, long-necked lute), and founder of Northern California's renowned Tar School. Joining Aryan and Ashkan in the ensemble is percussionist Amir Abbas Etemadzadeh on tombak and daf.

The ensemble is named after the great 20th century Persian musician and composer, Ustad Morteza Neydavood. Join us for an extraordinary evening featuring beautiful Persian traditional and regional music, music that is tightly linked to the region's age-old history and culture and intertwined with the words of the great Persian poets Jelaluddin Rumi, Hafez, Saadi, and Omar Khayam.