2016 Performing Arts Season Launches 1/23 at the Aga Khan Museum

The Aga Khan Museum's 2016 performing arts program kicks off on Saturday, January 23 at 8 pm with a journey into the heart of Anatolia and Persia via the passionate poetry of Sultan Shah Khatayi. The first of the Museum's Great Poets Series, the performance brings brothers Ali Riza and Hu?seyin Albayrak together with the Montreal-based ensemble Constantinople. It also provides an exciting musical introduction to the upcoming exhibition A City Transformed: Images of Istanbul Then and Now, opening February 6.

Celebrating the interconnectedness of poetry and music across Muslim civilizations, the Great Poets Series continues with tar virtuoso Amir Koushkani (March 12) and Iran's Vahdat Sisters (April 16), who honour poets Hafiz and Rumi respectively. Ramneek Singh opens for master sitarist Shujaat Khan in a tribute to Kabir and Khusrau on April 29 presented in partnership with Small World Music.

Also this season, the ever-popular Ukrainian quartet DakhaBrakha makes a spectacular return to the Museum in April, marking the first concert in a World Music Series that will extend through 2016. After a showcase performance on April 23, the quartet will make Toronto history, performing a live score for the silent film Earth (1930) on April 24.

To complement the installation Abbas Kiarostami: Doors Without Keys, the film series Seeing Beyond the Visible: The Films of Abbas Kiarostami (curated by Peter Scarlet) continues gallery and auditorium screenings until March 27. The Aga Khan Museum and TIFF are co-presenters of this series, as well as The Wind Will Carry Us: The Films of Abbas Kiarostami, a retrospective of Kiarostami's films curated by James Quandt (Senior Programmer, TIFF Cinematheque) running from February 27 to April 3 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Please visit tiff.net/cinematheque for details.

Other 2016 highlights include major co-presentations with Harbourfront Centre, Raag-Mala Music Society of Toronto, and Images Festival. For full details of the Winter/Spring season, please download On Stage here.

• February 6, 9 pm - Dispatches From Tomorrow at Harbourfront Centre showcases Grandfather of Rap, Jalal Nuriddin, who will be joined onstage by Malik Al Nasir and exceptional Canadian artists.
• April 2, 7 pm and April 3, 3 pm - Raags of the Gharana Tradition features four of India's finest musicians in two back-to-back concerts: Anupama Bhagwat (sitar), Waseem Ahmed Khan (vocals), Ramesh Mishra (sarangi), and Devaki Pandit (vocals).
• April 21, 8 pm - Eve Egoyan debuts the multimedia performance Earwitness 2016, collaborating with Canadian artists including Michael Snow and Nicole Lizée.

Diwan at Aga Khan Museum continues its popular series of specially-themed pre-show dinners for evening performances. For menus and details, please visit agakhanmuseum.org. The Aga Khan Museum gratefully acknowledges media partner NOW Magazine for the 2016 Performing Arts Season.

The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada has been established and developed by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), which is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). The Museum's mission is to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of the contribution that Muslim civilizations have made to world heritage.