Når stemmen bærer hjem

Persian songs, Eastern European sounds and Grieg sung in Farsi, for voice and chamber orchestra.

Since the Islamic Revolution, Iranian-born singer Mahsa Vahdat has been forced to develop her artistic practice outside her home country. Through music and poetry, she has held on to a language, a tradition and an experience.

She performs with rare strength and intimacy, and her music creates space for a particular kind of listening. She sings sorrow and joy with the same warmth. The programme, assembled by Vahdat and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, moves between music from Iran and its surrounding regions, Eastern European traditions, and a subtle transformation of Edvard Grieg in Farsi. Everything is woven together by poetry. We are held by a voice that carries memory and home.

Music rooted in what distance cannot erase.

Want to know more?

• Since the 1979 revolution, female solo singers have faced severe restrictions in Iran. Mahsa Vahdat has spent many years teaching Persian vocal art to women, mentoring younger Iranian singers and bringing women’s voices into international contexts.
• The programme moves between Mahsa Vahdat’s own songs, Persian poetry, Eastern European traditions and other musical landscapes. The repertoire includes music by Bartók, C. Jacobsen and C. Chaloub. Grieg’s Solveig's Song and Gjendines Bådnlåt appear in new versions, sung in Farsi.
• The concert opens the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra's season and is part of the orchestra's popular series at the University Aula (Universitets aula), one of Oslo's most distinctive concert spaces, known for Edvard Munch's monumental murals.