Samin Ghorbani & Rembrandt Frerichs

Saba Alizadeh & Pietro Caramelli

Double Bill Concert

23 March 2026 – 20:00

German Evangelical Community

Bleijenburg 3B, The Hague

On this evening in the intimate space of the German Evangelical Community in The Hague, two remarkable duos meet in a double bill that explores Persian musical heritage through distinct yet deeply connected artistic visions. What unites them is not simply shared geography or instrumentation, but a profound engagement with tradition as a living, evolving language.

The first part of the concert brings together Dutch pianist and composer Rembrandt Frerichs and Iranian classical vocalist Samin Ghorbani in an intimate and refined duo setting.

Rembrandt Frerichs has built an international reputation as one of the most original voices in contemporary European jazz. His artistic language is shaped by modal exploration, historical awareness, and a deep curiosity for musical traditions beyond Western harmony. His piano playing is spacious and architecturally precise, yet always attentive and responsive. Rather than imposing structure, he creates environments in which dialogue can unfold organically.

Samin Ghorbani stands among the active voices presenting Iranian women’s singing on international stages today. Rooted in the Radif Dastgahi tradition, her vocal art carries technical mastery, microtonal precision, and poetic depth. Her performances across Europe — including Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Stockholm, Zurich, and Frankfurt — have positioned her as a powerful representative of Persian classical singing in contemporary contexts. Her collaboration with maestro Hossein Alizadeh, including her participation in the album Radif Dastgahi be Revayat-e Ostād Hossein Alizadeh, connects her directly to the living lineage of Iranian classical music.

In this duo, piano and voice enter into true conversation. The intricate ornamentation and modal subtleties of Persian singing meet Frerichs’ harmonically sensitive and rhythmically fluid piano textures. There is no attempt at surface-level fusion. Instead, there is careful listening, shared breath, and a gradual unfolding of musical space. The performance becomes intimate and contemplative, shaped as much by silence as by sound.

The second part of the evening presents Rituals of the Last Dawn, the immersive collaboration between kamancheh virtuoso and composer Saba Alizadeh and Italian electronic musician Pietro Caramelli.

Saba Alizadeh has become one of the most compelling figures in the contemporary transformation of Persian classical music. Trained within tradition yet unafraid of experimentation, he expands the expressive capacity of the kamancheh through electronics, looping, and atmospheric layering. His music navigates themes of memory, displacement, ritual, and resilience, creating deeply emotional sonic environments.

Together with Pietro Caramelli, he constructs expansive soundscapes where bowed string timbres dissolve into textured electronic resonance. Rituals of the Last Dawn unfolds as an immersive journey. The ancient voice of the kamancheh is transformed through subtle processing and electronic depth, resulting in a performance that feels both meditative and cinematic.

Placed side by side, these two duos offer contrasting yet interconnected perspectives. Frerichs and Ghorbani explore acoustic intimacy, foregrounding breath, tone, and harmonic subtlety. Alizadeh and Caramelli expand into immersive sonic architecture, where tradition resonates through contemporary sound design. One invites close listening within a chamber-like atmosphere. The other envelops the audience in layered resonance.

Together, they form a complete arc for the evening — from the refined dialogue of voice and piano to the ritualistic immersion of strings and electronics. It is a concert that honours Persian musical heritage not as static preservation, but as living practice — open to dialogue, transformation, and renewal.