Music Across Borders Session 4: Persia

Join the fourth session of Music Across Borders, a Listening Club series exploring the musical connections between Türkiye and its cultural neighbours. Moderated by musicologist and pianist Prof. Dr Mine Doğantan-Dack, this session invites participants on a listening journey across Persia, tracing shared musical landscapes between Türkiye and Iran.

Session IV — Persia explores a shared Sufi heritage, encountering the poetry of Mevlana alongside the meditative sounds of tasavvuf music, reflecting on the rose, the nightingale, and the garden as timeless motifs woven through both traditions, and will also explore the legendary Golha radio programs of 20th century Iran, which preserved and popularized Persian classical music and poetry, elegantly bridging oral traditions with modern broadcast media.

Along the way, you will meet legendary musicians—Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, Googoosh, Zeki Müren, Âşık Veysel, Münir Nurettin Selçuk, Niyazi Sayın, Kayhan Kalhor, Shahram Nazeri, Pari Zangeneh, Parisa, and more—each offering a distinct window into these rich musical worlds. From the rugged peaks of the Zagros Mountains to the Anatolian highlands, we’ll discover how landscape itself has shaped expressive folk styles. Through sound, poetry, and symbolism, we’ll find ourselves immersed in the enduring allure of the famed rose gardens—golestān /gülistan—of Iran.

Guided by Prof. Dr Mine Doğantan-Dack, the session is based on close listening and reflection, supported by visual materials such as maps, videos, and instrument guides. Through attentive listening, participants will discover how music has travelled across the Aegean for generations, creating a rich network of shared sounds, stories, and emotional landscapes.

Session IV — Persia
Date: Friday, 17th April
Time: 6:00 pm
Venue: Yunus Emre Enstitüsü, 10 Maple Street, W1T 5HA

Limited spaces. Rose Tea and Persian delicacies will be served.

Explore the curated listening list and playlist for this session here:

No musical training required – open to all music lovers and curious listeners.

This session is part of a six-session Listening Club series exploring musical cultures across the Balkans, the Levant, the Aegean, Persia, the Turkic world, and the Ottoman musical sphere. For more info please click here!

For more information on the event, please email us at londra@yee.org.tr

IMPORTANT NOTES

This in-person event is open to participants aged 16 and above.

Please note that this event is first come first served and may be overbooked. To avoid disappointment, please arrive early and secure your seat. If you have registered but are unable to attend, please cancel your ticket to allow others to join. Thank you for your cooperation.

Please be advised that filming and/or photography will be taking place at the event for the purposes of archiving, marketing, and all other publications. By entering this event, you consent to the Yunus Emre Institute taking photographs and videos and using them.