Jasmin Toccata Project features an encounter between European Baroque and traditional Persian music. Percussionist Keyvan Chemirani, lutenist Thomas Dunford, and harpsichordist Jean Rondeau create bridges between these different musical worlds as they juxtapose pieces of the great Baroque masters—Scarlatti, Purcell, Dowland—with virtuoso Persian compositions of sublime rhythmic richness.

"When I played for the first time with baroque ensemble, I felt catapulted into a new world. It was only several years later, that I felt that this encounter between baroque and oriental instruments could make sense. It was then that I found a variety of resonances and bridges between these two musical worlds. I first discovered the incredible warmth and intimate dimensions of baroque instruments, and then I realised that such beauty of timbre and intimacy can coincidentally be found in the instruments used in the Middle- Eastern art music,” says Keyvan Chemiran, artistic director of the Jasmin Toccata Project.

“Thomas Dunford and Jean Rondeau are two young and talented musicians who both posses great knowledge in their field, and who are eager for openness and for the encounter that will result from this project. They are not only inventive and virtuosi, but also curious and open, capable of sobriety and great delicacy. The promise of much pleasure and emotions," Keyvan adds.

Keyvan Chemirani (b. 1968) – Faotiti; To Bandegui

Robert de Visée (1650-1725) - Chaconne

Bernardo Storace (FL. 1664) - Chaconne

Keyvan Chemirani - Soudha

Henry Purcell (1659-1695) - Zarb solo on Music for a While

Antonio Soler (1729-1783) - Fandango improvisation on a fandango bass

Girolamo Kapsberger (1580-1651) - Toccata 6

Joan Ambrosio Dalza (FL. 1508) - Calata

Keyvan Chemirani – Dawâr

Keyvan Chemirani, zarb and Indian santoor

Thomas Dunford, lute

Jean Rondeau, harpsichord

Keyvan Chemirani is a percussionist and artistic director of the project. Playing different kinds of percussions, Keyvan performed with jazz and contemporary bands but also traditional ensembles like the Chemirani Trio and the Ethnic Archipel Quartet. By introducing Persian percussions to a wide range of music genres, Keyvan Chemirani intends to transform his musical inheritance into a multiform creation.

Thomas Dunford graduated from the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris in 2006, but three years later he obtained his bachelor degree at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland, with American lutenist Hopkinson Smith. Since then, Thomas DUnford has played recitals in New-York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Wigmore Hall, and made numerous solo and ensemble appearances. Inspired by a wide range of music genres, including jazz, Thomas Dunford is looking for the connections that bring them together.

Jean Rondeau studied harpsichord at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris and at the Guildhall School of music and Drama in London. Awarded at the prestigious Les Victoires de la Musique Classiques as Best Solo Artist Revelation in 2015, 24-year-old Jean Rondeau is also one of the youngest first-prize-winners of the International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges. His studies at the Sorbonne University in Paris led him to combine philosophy and baroque, classical and jazz music, exploring the musical relationships that bound cultures to one another.

Concert in one part. Duration: approximately 1 hour 10 minutes

The concert is supported by the French Institute in Latvia.

Venue: Chamber Hall

Organiser: Lielais dzintars