Hani Niroo: Yalda in the Jungle

Playful songs about a squirrel who invites all of the animals in the jungle to a Yalda gathering, worried that the earth might fall asleep on the longest night of the year and not wake up, allow children to explore the Persian celebration of winter solstice marked by the sharing of watermelon, pomegranates and poetry. The singalong in Farsi with rhythmic plays also includes activities.

Link Music Lab presents its first event dedicated to children and Persian culture: Yalda in the Jungle. Hani Niroo, Vienna-based singer, composer and music educator, will be on vocals in collaboration with talented local favourite Naghmeh Farahmand on tombak and Marzieh Rahimzadeh on santur. They will interpret songs Niroo wrote with multi-instrumentalist Martin Shamoonpour for this special edition of Experimental Link Music Nights, which is also the Toronto debut of Marzieh Rahimzadeh.

Experimental Link Music Nights contemplates the Persian-Canadian experience by reinvigorating, re-exploring and re-imagining Persian traditional music within contemporary and cosmopolitan Toronto by inviting different musicians from the diaspora to collaborate and perform together. The series will explore connections between identity, culture, and musical creation with four concerts in its new season from December to March 2023.

Link Music Lab gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Canadian Heritage, Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council.