Jashn-e Tirgan 2019 - Cambridge

A celebration of the ancient Tirgan festival - Cambridge

You are cordially invited to Jashn-e Tirgan celebrations with Iranian classical and folk music, organised by the Voice of Santur and Cambridge Junction. In this concert you will hear songs and instrumental pieces from Iran and beyond, featuring Persian, Kurdish and Azari music .

Performers:
Khashayar Bagheri [voice]
Sulaiman Haqpana [tabla]
Peyman Heydarian [santur, daf]

Date: Friday 26 July 2019

Time: Concert starts at 8.30pm, doors open from 8pm.

Venue: Cambridge Junction, Cambridge Leisure park, Clifton Way, CB17 Cambridge

Tickets: £15 Adults / £10 Concs / £6 students

If you wish to purchase your tickets online and pay in advance (no booking fee), please go to our event page at www.thesantur.com

If you wish to reserve a place and pay at the door, please write to events.santur@yahoo.com, stating the names of all persons requiring tickets. Confirmation will be sent by return. Please note that all places must be booked in advance.

Event on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2802824656399869/

You might be interested in our other events:

Santur & ud duet at Jamboree - East London (17 July 2019):
https://www.facebook.com/events/463198721097788/

London Festival of Kurdish music (19 July 2019):
https://www.facebook.com/events/329944964362975/

MUSIC CLASSES: We run santur, daf and singing workshops in elementary and advance levels. You can write to events.santur@yahoo.com if you would like to join the classes.

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About The Voice of Santur:
The “Voice of the Santur” concert series was launched by santur virtuoso Peyman Heydarian in July 2010 at the School of Oriental and African Studies [SOAS, University of London] and has visited different cities including Padova, Venice, Athens, Cambridge, Oxford, Hong Kong and Edinburgh since then.

The santur originated in Iran and is played in different musical traditions. The “Voice of the Santur” programme is a bridge between different cultures and contributes to understandings of people from other cultures.

About Jashn-e Tirgan:
The Tirgan Festival similar to other major Iranian festivals follows the solar calendar system of day reckoning. It is celebrated on the start of Summer season about 1st of July, the longest day of the year. The name "TIR" has roots in the ancient Avestan name "Tishtar", the Sirius star. Sirius (dog star) was also known to the ancient Egyptians indicating the inundation of the river Nile.Today,the closest planet to the sun is known as "Tir" (Attarod, Mercury). Due to its closeness to the sun it suffers extreme temperature conditions.
Iranian festivals have usually a semi-historical legend attributed to them. The hero of Tirgan is Arash, the bow champion "Kamangir". The story is found in the ancient Avestan books and has gone since through many variations. The legend could be summarised as follows:
During the reign of the Iranian king Manouchehr, some of the Iranian land was occupied by the Turanians, at a time that as a result of a draught, a long famine struck the land of Iran. Eventually, negotiation took place between Manouchehr and the Turanian king Afrasiab. It was agreed to terminate the occupation conditionally. The two sides agreed whatever land falls within the range of a bowman's shot should be returned to Iran. The Iranians to prove their worth to the Turanians chose the best archer available, Arash. On the agreed day, Arash climbed a certain mutually agreed mountain near the disputed landmass and fired his heroic arrow ( tir also means arrow in Persian). The heroic shot travelled beyond belief and the champion due to exhaustion collapsed and died on the spot. The locations given in the Avesta cannot be ascertained correctly, the landing place of the arrow was apparently somewhere beyond the Oxus (Amoo Darya) river. It is said that after this act of heroism, justice was restored, rain followed and the long suffering of draught disappeared.
Few days before the Tirgan Festival, the Iranians wear a multi colour thread round their wrists. On Tigan day they visit parks and pastures to celebrate and splash water on each other. The threads are thrown to the streams as a libation to wash the past sufferings away.