Event

Diaspora Arts Connection Presents: Qais Essar and Eman Hashimi Live

An evening of Afghan music with Rabab player Qais Essar and Tabla player Eman Hashimi, exhibiting Afghan classical and traditional folk music.

Qais Essar, is an international artist, composer, producer, and player of the Rabab, the 2,500-year-old Afghan lute instrument, who carries on the traditional legacy of classical Afghan instrumentation, as established by Ustad Mohammad Omar Khan. A student of both classical and traditional forms (currently under the tutelage of Ustad Aashish Khan), as well as western music, Essar is able to also present the Rabab with a fresh new perspective. Essar has collaborated with many prominent artists and masters, covering the musical spectrum, performing domestically and internationally. With his new album, Transmutation, Essar sets his sights on bringing Afghan traditional sounds into the global music frontier, presenting a more modern, sensual, and hungry take on performing rabab for a world audience than we have ever heard before. (Artist website: http://www.therabab.com/about)

Eman Essa Hashimi is one of this generation's most talented and sought-after Afghan musicians. He was born in Pakistan in 1996. His father is the prominent Afghan tabla virtuoso Toryalai Hashimi, student of the magnificent Ustad Hashim of the Panjab Gharana. Eman Hashimi trained and performed under masters the strenuous Afghan folk style of "Kharabat"; the style of playing, the rare style of tabla playing thar requires extra hand movements, rigorous practice techniques and accurate finger, word-for-word strokes. As Eman continues his musical journey, he looks to keeping the Afghan Folk Style "Kharabat" alive in his music and to incorporate it with his enriched classical music studies. His goal is to provide and bring alive the Eastern music culture intertwined with the music of the West.