Past Festivals & Concerts

X DOT 25 World Music Concert Series · 1995–2000

Through the 1990s, X DOT 25 Music produced a series of large-scale world-music festivals across the San Francisco Bay Area — nights of spiritual music, poetry, and dance at the Palace of Fine Arts and the First Unitarian Church of Berkeley. These are the concerts that defined the era.

★ World Premier ★
Axiom of Choice in Concert
Presenting the music from their debut album “Beyond Denial” on X DOT 25 Music
Saturday, June 24, 1995 · 8:00 PM
Palace of Fine Arts · San Francisco, California
Featuring
  • Mamak KhademVocals
  • Loga Ramin TorkianGuitar
  • Pejman HadadiPercussion
  • Greg EllisPercussion
  • Cameron StoneCello
  • Babak TorkianArt Director
Program
  • Desert Storm — exhilaration, agony, and conviction
  • Whisper — based on the melody of “Naghmeh”
  • Kailas — quarter-tone guitar and Udu in the modal scale of “Mahoor”
  • Kaef — quarter-tone guitar, tombak and Udu in “Chahar Gah”
  • Valeh — inspired by Rumi, on longing and devotion
  • Rhythm Riddle — built on various time signatures
  • Kam — vocal improvisation on a melody by Cameron Stone
$20 advance · $25 at the door
Full Concert Archive →
★ Concert Series #I ★
Mystery of Sama
A Night of Spiritual Music, Poetry & Dance — a journey into the innermost regions of human spirituality. Based on “The Mystery of Sama,” composed by Hafez Modirzadeh.
Saturday, December 28, 1996 · 8:00 PM
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley · Kensington, California
Featuring
  • Hafez ModirzadehKarna, Soprano & Tenor Sax
  • Parisa VaalehVocals
  • ParinazVocals
  • Alan KushanSantur
  • Ustad Mohammad NejadPersian Ney & Setar
  • Koorosh AngaliPoetry of Rumi, Hafez & other Sufi poets
  • Nima RezaeeSticks
  • Dariush MinaeeDrums
  • Eunmi ShinSolo Piano
  • ShahrzadPersian Dance
Program
  • Entrance with Karna
  • Rise, O Daylight — Santur drone, Rumi’s Rubai
  • Beloved Enters the Soul
  • “Finally” You Took Abode in My Soul — Ghazal
  • — Intermission —
  • The Second Dawn
  • Lullaby — for the Child of the Entranced
  • The Blessed Is the Intoxicated
  • The Final Lesson
  • The Finale — The Dice of Faith
$18 advance · $20 at the door
Sponsors: Faz Restaurants · Haight Ashbury Music Center
★ Concert Series #II ★
Mystery of Sama 2
A Night of Spiritual Music, Poetry & Dance — a celestial night of the poetry of Rumi, Hafez, and other Persian Sufi poets.
Saturday, April 4, 1998 · 8:30 PM
Palace of Fine Arts · San Francisco, California
Featuring
  • Hafez ModirzadehKarna, Nay, Soprano Sax
  • Yussi & DjangoFlamenco Guitars
  • Alan KushanSantur
  • Ustad Habib KhanSitar
  • Shafqat Ali KhanVocals
  • Koorosh AngaliSufi Poetry
  • Paulo BaladiDumbek
  • Michael LewisTabla
  • Richard MichosGuitars
  • Salar NaderTabla
  • Tim WitterTabla, Percussion
  • ShahrzadPersian Dance
Program
  • Entrance with Karna
  • Sufi & Dance of Jenn
  • Voices of Spheres
  • Evening Light
  • — Intermission —
  • Entrance with Karna
  • Mystery of Sema I
  • Mystery of Sema II
  • Mystery of Sema III
  • State of Enchanted All
$18 advance · $20 at the door
★ World Music Concert Series #III ★
Aldoush & The Human Exchange
Classical Fusion of the Far East — contemporary folk and classical music from India & Persia, with a new interpretation of Persian folk and classical music.
Saturday, October 2, 1998 · 8:30 PM
Palace of Fine Arts · San Francisco, California
Featuring
  • AldoushVoice, Acoustic Guitar, Nazanin, Setar
  • Ian DogoleUdu, Tombak, Global Drum Set
  • Scott HillAlto & Soprano Sax, Clarinet
  • David McQueenTombak (Zarb) & Daf
  • Jeff ObeeBass
  • Shahrzad & AhdiPersian Dance
With Special Guests
  • Ustad Habib KhanSitar
  • Alan KushanSantur
  • Stephen KentDidgeridoo
  • Hans ChristianCello
  • Sultan PakhawajTabla
  • Ben MawhorterTabla, Tombak
Program
  • Indian Fusion
  • Persian Fusion
  • New Interpretation of Persian Folk and Classical Music
  • Jam Session
$18 advance · $20 at the door
Sponsors: Faz Restaurants · Haight Ashbury Music Center
★ World Music Concert Series #IV ★
VAS in ConcertVeiled · Greg Ellis & Azam Ali
“O my soul, there is a link between your heart and mine. And my heart is looking for that path. My heart is clear and pure like water, and pure water is a perfect mirror for moonlight.” — Molana Jalalu’din Rumi
Friday, April 16, 1999 · 8:30 PM
Palace of Fine Arts · San Francisco, California
VAS in Concert
  • Azam AliVoice, Hammered Dulcimer
  • Greg EllisPercussion
  • Cameron StoneCello

Presenting the music from their new album “Offerings.”

Special Guests
  • Ustad Habib KhanSitar
  • Ustad Mohammad Assef MahmoodTabla
  • Ben MawhorterTabla
  • Pandit Swapan ChaudhuriTabla
  • Koorosh AngaliReciting Rumi’s Poetry

Also celebrating the release of the “Evening Light” album, featuring Ustad Habib Khan on Sitar & Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri on Tabla — on X DOT 25 Music.

Program
  • Veiled
  • Evening Light
  • The Bond
  • Sunyata & Offerings
  • Veiled
$18 advance · $20 at the door
Sponsors: Narada Records · Faz Restaurants · Haight Ashbury Music Center
★ Concert Series #V · Third Millennium Music Festival ★
Dawn of the New Millennium
A Night of Spiritual Music, Poetry & Dance — celebrating the placement of Persian Sufi poets Rumi (No. 71) and Ibn Sina (No. 73) on Life Magazine’s Millennium Top 100 People.
Saturday, January 22, 2000 · 8:00 PM
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley · Kensington, California
Featuring
  • Claudia VillelaVocals · Ricardo PeixotoGuitar
  • Riffat SalamatVocals (Alikhan Band, daughter of Ustad Salamat Ali Khan) · Richard MichosGuitars
  • Alan KushanSantur · Michael LewisTabla
  • David HannibalDidgeridoo (Haunted by Waters)
  • Ustad Habib KhanSitar · Ben Mawhorter & EmamTabla & Dumbek
  • Ustad Mohammad NejadPersian Ney & Setar
  • Koorosh AngaliSufi Poetry
  • MagaliSacred Art: Tibetan Bells & Himalayan Dances
  • ShahrzadDance
In the News

Ibn Sina and Rumi made Life Magazine’s list of the Millennium’s Top 100 People, ranking No. 71 and No. 73. Rumi, the 13th-century Sufi mystic, composed passionate poems that found the divine in people, nature, and everyday life. Ibn Sina — known in the West as Avicenna, the “prince of physicians” — wrote The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine.

$18 advance · $20 at the door
Sponsors: Gallery Ovissi · Haight Ashbury Music Center · Faz Restaurants