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Qais Essar Tickets, Tour Dates and Concerts

Qais Essar

Qais Essar & Sonny Singh : SANGAT

Hill Center
921 Pennsylvania Ave SE

Jun 26, 2025

7:00 PM EDT
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About this concert
Curated and hosted by iconic DC impresario and musician Jim Thomson and co-sponsored by India House Foundation Afghan American rabab virtuoso Qais Essar has joined forces with Sikh American trumpet player and singer Sonny Singh in a new project that obliterates musical, political, and religious boundaries. Weaving together the ancient sound and haunting melodies of the rabab, a 2,500 year-old instrument from Afghanistan, with bold trumpet lines and anthemic Punjabi vocals, Qais and Sonny ground their music in ancestral wisdom and usher us into the future with their uplifting new sound. Drawing inspiration from hundreds of years old mystical poetry from the Sikh, Sufi, and radical bhakti traditions, their music centers oneness and connection in times of increasing division and hierarchy. The collaboration between Qais Essar and Sonny Singh launches in Spring 2025, when they begin releasing new music from their forthcoming album SANGAT. The project is not only a meeting of diverse musical and spiritual traditions, but also a reflection of using art as a vehicle for connection, resistance, and healing. Band members include: Qais Essar – rabab Sonny Singh – vocals, trumpet, harmonium Ria Modak – acoustic guitar, vocals Sukhmani Kaur – tabla, percussion
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Qais Essar Biography

Qais Essar is a contemporary Afghan composer, instrumentalist and producer who channels his melodic designs through the rabab, a 2,500 year old instrument from Afghanistan. He has toured extensively, sharing his new genre of music nationally and internationally. Essar has released two LPs, four EPs and one live album. His first LP, The Green Language (2014), quickly became an Amazon #1 bestseller, followed by his second LP, Tavern of Ruin in 2016. He has contributed original music to feature films also. In 2017, Qais was recruited by director Nora Twomey to compose an original song for her Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated film, The Breadwinner (produced by Angelina Jolie). He earned a Canadian Screen Award nomination for “Best Original Song” for his piece The Crown Sleeps. Additionally, he orchestrated a sold-out run of the musical Tear a Root from the Earth at the OBIE award winning Ice Factory at the New Ohio Theatre in New York City. Essar continues to be featured in festivals and venues around the world including the Newport Folk Festival, SXSW, The Kennedy Center, Treefort Music Festival and more. Essar is planning to tour and release his 3rd LP in 2018.
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Chamber Pop
World Fusion
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