Carrying the festival spirit forward — recognizing exceptional artists and musical works from around the world. Not limited to the X DOT 25 Music catalog. Inaugural award, May 2027.
A journey into the innermost regions of human spirituality — a premiere of the World Music Series at the Orinda Theatre, in collaboration with X DOT 25 Music, with Persian & Indian master musicians.
Friday, September 18, 2026 · 7:30 PM
The Orinda Theatre · 2 Orinda Way, Orinda, California Next to Orinda BART · 400+ parking stalls in the Plaza · 4-hour validated free parking
Concert Poster
This is a true collaboration between sitar maestro Habib Khan and Persian vocalist Parisa Vaaleh — two artists meeting as equals on the Orinda stage. Habib Khan carries the deep roots of Indian raga into open conversation with world and jazz, decades of mastery in technique meeting improvisation that moves freely across continents.
At the heart of the evening, Parisa Vaaleh sings the words of Rumi and other spiritual Persian poets — mystical verse given voice above the ensemble. She and Habib Khan are accompanied by five of the Bay Area’s finest musicians: Persian master percussionist Amir Etemadzadeh on tombak and daf, Persian multi-instrumentalist Michael Nejad on ney, flute, qanoon, violin and santoor, electric-guitar maestro Richard Michos, and Satish Tare on tabla, with David Gray on tabla and harmonium.
Featuring
Habib Khan — Indian Sitar Maestro
Parisa Vaaleh — Persian Vocalist
Amir Etemadzadeh — Persian Percussion · Daf & Tombak
A Sold-Out Premiere · September 18, 2026 · The Orinda Theatre ✓ A Sold-Out Premiere
Music · Culture · Connection · A Brighter Tomorrow
X DOT 25 World Music Concert Series Festivals
Through the 1990s and beyond, 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 Kensington. 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 Khadem — Vocals
Loga Ramin Torkian — Guitar
Pejman Hadadi — Percussion
Greg Ellis — Percussion
Cameron Stone — Cello
Babak Torkian — Art 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
Palace of Fine ArtsConcert PosterProgram Guide — OutsideProgram Guide — InsideConcert CardConcert Card
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 Modirzadeh — Karna, Soprano & Tenor Sax
Parisa Vaaleh — Vocals
Parinaz — Vocals
Alan Kushan — Santur
Ustad Mohammad Nejad — Persian Ney & Setar
Koorosh Angali — Poetry of Rumi, Hafez & other Sufi poets
Nima Rezaee — Sticks
Dariush Minaee — Drums
Eunmi Shin — Solo Piano
Shahrzad — Persian 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
First Unitarian Universalist Church · KensingtonFirst Unitarian Church of Kensington
$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 Modirzadeh — Karna, Nay, Soprano Sax
Yussi & Django — Flamenco Guitars
Alan Kushan — Santur
Ustad Habib Khan — Sitar
Shafqat Ali Khan — Vocals
Koorosh Angali — Sufi Poetry
Paulo Baladi — Dumbek
Michael Lewis — Tabla
Richard Michos — Guitars
Salar Nader — Tabla
Tim Witter — Tabla, Percussion
Shahrzad — Persian 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
Palace of Fine Arts · April 4, 1998Mystery of Sama 2 · 1998
$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
Aldoush — Voice, Acoustic Guitar, Nazanin, Setar
Ian Dogole — Udu, Tombak, Global Drum Set
Scott Hill — Alto & Soprano Sax, Clarinet
David McQueen — Tombak (Zarb) & Daf
Jeff Obee — Bass
Shahrzad & Ahdi — Persian Dance
With Special Guests
Ustad Habib Khan — Sitar
Alan Kushan — Santur
Stephen Kent — Didgeridoo
Hans Christian — Cello
Sultan Pakhawaj — Tabla
Ben Mawhorter — Tabla, Tombak
Program
Indian Fusion
Persian Fusion
New Interpretation of Persian Folk and Classical Music
Jam Session
Aldoush, Jeff Obee & Scott Hill
$18 advance · $20 at the door Sponsors: Faz Restaurants · Haight Ashbury Music Center
★ World Music Concert Series #IV ★
A Collaborative World Music Festival with Narada Productions (Virgin Records/MCA/Universal Music)
VEILED
VAS in Concert
Also Presenting
Ustad Habib Khan and Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri
Celebrating the release of the “Evening Light” album, on X DOT 25 Music.
Special Appearance by Koorosh Angali reciting Rumi’s Words of Wisdom.
“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 Ali — Voice, Hammered Dulcimer
Greg Ellis — Percussion
Cameron Stone — Cello
Presenting the music from their new album “Offerings.”
Special Guests
Ustad Habib Khan — Sitar
Ustad Mohammad Assef Mahmood — Tabla
Ben Mawhorter — Tabla
Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri — Tabla
Koorosh Angali — Reciting Rumi’s Poetry
Program
Veiled
Evening Light
The Bond
Sunyata & Offerings
Veiled
Ustad Habib KhanKoorosh Angali
$18 advance · $20 at the door Sponsors: Narada Productions · 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 Villela — Vocals
Ricardo Peixoto — Guitar
Riffat Salamat — Vocals (Alikhan Band, daughter of Ustad Salamat Ali Khan)
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.
Concert · January 22, 2000First Unitarian Universalist Church · KensingtonDawn of the New Millennium · 2000
$18 advance · $20 at the door Sponsors: Gallery Ovissi · Haight Ashbury Music Center · Faz Restaurants
Ashavahishta — CD Release Party & Concert
January 18, 2014 · 8:00 PM – 2:00 AM · Cloud 9, 1320 9th Street, Berkeley, CA
On January 18, 2014, X DOT 25 Music celebrated the release of Ashavahishta’s album with a night of live music and dance at Cloud 9 in Berkeley — a release party and concert that brought together a remarkable lineup of Bay Area world musicians and dancers.
The Music & Dance
Haunted by Waters Cait McWhir — Vocals, Tin Whistle, Harmonium, Zills Tina “Bean” Blaine — Percussion, Djembe, Doumbek, Keys, Vocals Gerry Bassermann — Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar, Didgeridoo, Vocals Stephen Schultz — Baroque Flute Greg Stone — Bass Rhan Wilson — Percussion, Electric Guitar
Nejad Band Ustad Nejad — Ney & Daf Azadeh Gorgani — Grand Piano
Ali Khan Band Sukhawat Ali Khan — Vocals, Harmonium
