Kayhan Kalhor – kamancheh (spiked fiddle)
Johnny Gandelsman – violin
Colin Jacobsen – violin
Nicholas Cords – viola
Eric Jacobsen – cello

Silent City, the “stunning collaboration” between Iranian kamancheh, or spike-fiddle, virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor and the adventurous, American string quartet, Brooklyn Rider has been hailed by the critics as “challenging music [that is] a real thrill ride” (Strings Magazine).  

Kayhan Kalhor is a GRAMMY-Award nominated soloist and composer. Born in Tehran, Iran, he began his musical studies at the age of seven. At thirteen, he was invited to work with the National Orchestra of Radio and Television of Iran and at seventeen he began working with the Shayda Ensemble of the Chavosh Cultural Center. He has traveled extensively throughout Iran, studying the music of its many regions, in particular those of Khorason and Kordestan. Kayhan Kahlor has toured the world as a soloist with various ensembles and orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de Lyon.  He is co-founder of the renowned ensembles Dastan, Ghazal: Persian & Indian Improvisations and Masters of Persian Music.  Kayhan Kahlor has composed works for Iran’s most renowned vocalists and instrumentalists and was most recently featured on the soundtrack of Francis Ford Copolla’s Youth Without Youth in a score that he collaborated on with Osvaldo Golijov. He is a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project and his compositions appear on all three of the Ensemble’s albums.  

The multi-faceted string quartet Brooklyn Rider is becoming increasingly known for its creative programming and exciting collaborations which serve to illuminate music in new ways. Born out of a desire to use the rich medium of the string quartet as a vehicle for borderless communication, all of the musicians have enjoyed diverse careers in music that have intersected with each other over many years. They have worked with composers such as Chen Yi, Osvaldo Golijov, Dimitry Yanov-Yanovsky, Shirish Korde, Ljova, Jenny Scheinman and Brooklyn Rider’s own Colin Jacobsen. Brooklyn Rider was recently invited to record the complete quartets of Philip Glass for his label, Orange Mountain Music. Their collaborations include programs with Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man, Syrian/Armenian visual artist Kevork Mourad, traditional and technology-based Japanese shakuhachi player Kojiro Umezaki, singer/songwriter Christina Courtin, kamancheh master Kayhan Kalhor, and Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, a group dedicated to exploring the cultural intersections of the peoples along the ancient trade route. As members of the ensemble, they have performed throughout the world, recorded three albums for Sony Classical, and taken part in a series of residencies.

Last updated October 2009. Contact Opus 3 Artists for the most up-to-date version.