Promoting and strengthening the artistic and cultural development of Orange County, North Carolina
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Rumi by Candlelight 2019
April 4, 2019 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Romancing the divine through music and poetry of ecstacy and lament.
Join us for the 13th year of annual Poetry and Music performances that we have come to call “Rumi By Candlelight.”
Doors open at 6:30pm / Show begins at 7:30pm.
Each year, a collective of musicians and poets gather to choose their favorite poems by Rumi, and compose original music to accompany them. We then create a beautiful and flowing performance, and present it in a calm, candlelit space. The duration is about 90 minutes. There is truly not another performance like it!
Our collective this year is:
Majid Bastani- Poetry in English and Farsi, Percussion
Betsy Bevan – Piano, Percussion
Will Ridenour – Kora, Percussion
Daniel Chambo – Flute, Vocals, Percussion
About Rumi:
Jalal ad-Din Rumi is one of the most popular poets in the U.S. today. He was born in present day Afghanistan in 1207. In his first few years his family fled the Mongols and after many years settled in Konya, in present day Turkey, when he was in his twenties. On his father’s death, he took over the leadership of the Sufi religious school at the age of 24. In 1244 he met Shams-i-Tabriz, a wild dervish who quickly became his mentor and intimate, spiritual friend. Rumi became consumed by this friendship and was thrown into terrible grief when Shams disappeared, possibly slain by some of Rumi’s jealous students.
Rumi’s wonderful poetry, so powerful today, comes from his awakening out of this grief. He became, and has remained, one of the leading mystics of his age, and some say of all time. He died in Konya in 1273 at age 66. People from all religions attended his funeral as each saw him as a prophet of their own. (Text by Adrian Vyner-Brooks)
