Sydney Sacred Music Festival: Global music comes to Parramatta
Shohrat Tursun will bring the 1000-year-old sounds of his Uyghur people to Parramatta with a historic performance as part of this year’s Sydney Sacred Music Festival.
Parramatta
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Parramatta will host a historic performance next month.
Shohrat Tursun will perform the 1000-year-old song cycle Muqam Rak, the first of 12 types of traditional Muqams.
The performance, at Riverside Theatres on Sunday, September 2, will feature Tursun on voice and dutar, a traditional two-stringed instrument, and Tayir Imen on traditional percussion.
The duo will be accompanied by musicians Bukhchuluun Ganburged and Dr Kim Cunio, and the performance will include traditional dance by the Sydney Uyghur Dance Ensemble.
Tursun said the Muqam were complicated pieces of music, with the Muqam Rak “very, very difficult”.
Tursun has played the dutar since he was six years old and still practices every day.
Tursun has performed all over Australia in bands, as a soloist or in a trio alongside Ghanaian percussionist Yaw Derkyi and musical director Richard Petkovic.
Tursun’s performance at Riverside Theatres is part of the Sydney Sacred Music Festival, made up of 13 events across Sydney.
Other local events include Bhakti: Art and Devotion, a journey through the sacred practices of Hindu devotion through music, dance and ceremony of South Indian heritage,at Old Government House in Parramatta Park on September 9 and Building 20 — Curated Silence, three music performances from diverse cultures and faiths at Newington Armory on September 15.