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Saffron Caravan

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Music with a message - the essence of arts diplomacy™

Uniting artists from Iran, Afghanistan, Cuba, Morocco and the United States, our Saffron Caravan (SC) ensemble showcases stellar artists from cultures in conflict.  As they engage in creative exchange and cross-cultural dialogue through music, they collectively serve as a model for other disciplines to follow.   Together, they collaboratively create new art while exploring both the sacred and mystical traditions in Arab and Jewish music, poetic influences, and ethnic African Sufi, Gnaoua and Rai music, infused with the sub-Saharan roots of blues and jazz, spiced with Afro-Caribbean and South-American rhythms.  Five of the nine musicians are Grammy Awardees and/or Nominees.  Saffron Caravan is newly re-configured from its predecessor, the Genesis World Music Ensemble.

Saffron Caravan’s musical program is skillfully designed to take our audiences on a world tour with an ease that transcends otherwise imposing and often inaccessible or misunderstood genres.  The repertoire for their concert series includes an arrangement of Aranjuez, Rumi’s Axis of Love and Masnavi - Listen to the Reeds, Samai Shad Araban, L’cha Dodi, Barchu, La Comida La Manana, Fel Shara and Adio Querida, among others.Their repertoire spans seven languages and multiple keys. 

Their performances feature foreign integrated artists, some in the form of bilateral exchanges (a select group of the artists from foreign countries with whom they work will come to perform with them in the US.)  Celebrated guest artists have included Hany Mehanna, Conductor of the Cairo Opera House, Saida Charaf, Rachid Zeroual, Hamid El Kasri, Saad Lamjarred, 2007 Arab Super Idol Finalist, and the Casablanca Orchestra for Andalusian Music.

Saffron Caravan artists remain in country for moderated post-performance discussions to help audiences examine and process how the ensemble’s work touches the lives of individual artists, affects the choices they make, and inspires their families and the surrounding global community.  Genesis at the Crossroads sustains the impact of Saffron Caravan’s work beyond the immediate performances through arts-education master classes, speaking engagements, community partnerships, cross-cultural exchanges and humanitarian work (instrument donation programs.)

Opens Genesis at the Crossroads’ 10-year anniversary
Theme: healing and reconciliation through art.

Voices of Iran
Focuses on Iranian music against the backdrop and in the context of globally polarizing conflict.

Saffron Caravan our Genesis World Music Ensemble unites artists from Iran, Afghanistan, Cuba, Morocco and the United States for performance and arts education programs.  By showcasing the best of cross-cultural collaboration, while sharing and preserving ethnic identity through music, our Saffron Caravan artists model Genesis’ unique brand of arts diplomacy TM.

Although our organization is a-political and a-religious, we widely publicize the fact that our ensemble represents artists from the Ba’hai, Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities.

The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC
6 PM on April 13th
To be Audio-video webstreamed across the country

April 14th – location TBA
Performance and combined symposium to explore the subject of adversarial cultures in creative exchange.
Emcee - Iranian American Washington Post correspondent Roya Hakakian

Celebrating the neutral and creative space the arts provide for us all to explore personal and cultural identity in a profound and thought-provoking manner.

 “Sublime!”
Aaron Cohen, The Chicago Tribune

“…a flawless blend of musical styles from around the globe.”
Tim Receveur, US Department of State, USINFO
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC

Past Performances:

The Rialto Theater, Casablanca, MOROCCO – December 18, 2007
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC (USA) – August 27, 2007
HAMSA-Fest, Chicago, IL (USA) – August 26, 2007

Future Performances:

UNITED STATES:

• Washington, DC (The Kennedy Center) – April 2010
• New Orleans – Martin Luther King Day, 2011

FUTURE SITES (2010-12)

• Turkey
• Spain/Andalusia
• Africa
• The Middle East
• North and South America

Revised:

EGYPT:

• 2009 International Music Festival of the Alexandria Library - July 2009 CANCELLED

JORDAN:

• The Jordan Festival in conjunction with the 60th Anniversary of Jordanian-American Diplomatic Relations – July 2009

CANCELLED