Raaf Hekkema

In Song of the Reed, the Calefax reed quintet meets one of Iran’s most famous singers, Mohammad Motamedi. Together, the musicians present a cross-pollination of traditional Iranian songs and instrumental classical music. Centuries-old Persian poetry serves as a wellspring of inspiration for Iranian songs. Motamedi excels in the art of weaving graceful melodies around these verses. The programme is about the feeling of homesickness for the place one comes from. Song of the Reed is a poem of the same name by 13th-century mystic poet Rumi, which describes the pain of those who are cut off from their home, like a reed cut from its reed bed.