Mystical musicians to take Konya stage

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The Konya International Mystic Music Festival starts with with a concert from Iran’s Sima Bina. The festival will also host musicians from some other countries.

Boasting a global lineup featuring artists from countries as diverse as Iran, Afghanistan, Bulgaria and China, the ninth Konya International Mystic Music Festival will celebrate the music of the esoteric next month.

The festival, which runs from Sept. 22 to 30, will commemorate the Central Anatolian province’s most famous son, Jalaladdin Rumi, with concerts near his shrine.

The festival will begin with a concert from Iran’s Sima Bina on Sept. 22, followed the next day by Bulgaria’s Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares. Afghan master Ustad Ghulam Hussain will perform Sept. 24, to be followed Sept. 25 by the Czech group Schola Gregoriana Pragensis with Gregorian chant.

Also performing will be Coumbane Mint Ely Warakane of Mauritania, the Uyghur music ensemble Sanubar, the Aznash Ensemble with Chechen Sufi music, Purna Das Baul of India and, finally, a Turkish whirling dervish ceremony.

The concerts will start at 9 p.m. each night, at the Metropolitan Municipality’s Mevlana Culture Center’s Sultan Veled Hall or sema hall. All of the festival’s programs are open to the public at no cost.

The Konya International Mystic Music Festival was first held in September 2004. With concerts and music recitals starting in the latter part of the month, the Konya International Mystic Music Festival always culminates on Sept. 30, Rumi’s birthday.

Since the first festival in 2004, it has become a melting pot of mystical music from around the world.

The intention of the festival is to introduce audiences to the world’s mystical music traditions while promoting interaction and communication among various faiths by emphasizing mystic music, which is common to all religions.