Berkeley Society for the Preservation of Traditional Music and Mahsa Vahdat

“Woven Verses: Poetic Resistance and Resilience,” an evening-length song cycle set to classical and contemporary Persian texts.

Iranian singer and musician Mahsa Vahdat, in collaboration with Freight and Salvage, has been commissioned to create and perform an evening-length song cycle set to interwoven classical and contemporary Persian texts. Presented over two nights, “Woven Verses: Poetic Resistance and Resilience” will activate voices from past and present in “a collage of text.” The melodies will be a collection of rhythmic and free-metered songs, rooted in traditional and regional Persian music’s complex system of modes, meter, and ornamentation used to create organic, layered, and seamless dialogue between vocals, instrumentation, and projected visual elements. The work will premiere in late 2024, accompanied by public engagements, artist talks, educational workshops, and radio interviews.