Van Diemen’s Band and Ensemble Kaboul to Tour WHERE EVERYTHING IS MUSIC September–October

Van Diemen’s Band and the legendary Ensemble Kaboul will reunite this fall for the national return of Where Everything is Music — a powerful cross-cultural collaboration that preserves a centuries-old musical tradition now banned in Afghanistan. The tour will run September 25–October 5, 2025, with performances in Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart, Sydney, and Brisbane.

Created for MONA FOMA 2023 and performed to sold-out audiences, Where Everything is Music takes its title from the Persian mystic and poet Rumi. The work celebrates the profound connections between Persian-Afghan traditional music and Western classical forms, featuring master musicians from Afghanistan alongside Tasmania’s leading Baroque ensemble. The program is both a musical dialogue and an act of cultural resistance.

The collaboration will feature rubab virtuoso Khaled Arman, tabla player and vocalist Siar Hashimi, and zerbaghali percussionist Masud Hashimi, blending the intricate melodic patterns and rhythmic drive of traditional Afghan and Persian music with the warm, resonant tones of gut-string period instruments. Soaring vocals, shimmering rubab textures, and dynamic rhythms will merge with Western and traditional instruments in original arrangements of traditional Persian music, late-19th-century piano works by Erik Satie, mystical compositions of Hildegard of Bingen, and new music by Luke Plumb.

“This collaboration represents something deeply important — music’s power to transcend borders and preserve cultural heritage in times of crisis. Working with Khaled, Siar, and Masud has been transformative, not just musically but in understanding our responsibility as artists to amplify voices that might otherwise be silenced,” said Julia Fredersdorff, Artistic Director of Van Diemen’s Band.

Following widespread critical acclaim and audience requests, Where Everything is Music will also be released on the newly established VDB label, preserving the repertoire for future generations. The program will include traditional Persian compositions reimagined for the ensemble, alongside Western works chosen for their fluid, contemplative style. Highlights will include new arrangements by Arman of songs by the legendary Fazel Ahmad Zekrya (known as Nainawaz), who was assassinated by Soviet forces in 1979, as well as inventive interpretations of works by Bach, Satie, and Hildegard of Bingen.

Tickets, ranging from $35 to $65 plus booking fees, will be available via venue box offices. The tour will include stops at Melbourne Recital Centre (September 25), UKARIA Cultural Centre (September 28, sold out), Theatre Royal Hobart (October 3), Leichhardt Town Hall in Sydney (October 4), and Brisbane Powerhouse (October 5). Full booking details can be found on the tour landing page.

Ensemble Kaboul will bring together musicians Khaled Arman, Siar Hashimi, and Masud Hashimi, each of whom has built an international reputation for reviving and reinterpreting the Persian music of Afghanistan. Van Diemen’s Band, described as “Australia’s Baroque supergroup,” will contribute its historically informed, energetic interpretations of 17th- and 18th-century repertoire, drawing on its members’ experience performing with internationally renowned early music ensembles.