About this Artist

The Qaderi Dervishes invited for this program consist of five members from the Qaderi Sufi order from Kurdistan in Western Iran and are from this selseleh clan. Their symbol is a red scarf worn around the waist. The Qaderi Sufis are Sunnis and are very strict in their spiritual beliefs. It is the extraordinary tradition of this Sufi order for the participants to perform mad’hh and zikr (repetition of a word or sentence to enter a state of trance) with musical accompaniment. Mad’hhs are collections of energetic melodies combined with sung poetry and sayings of the great mystics. The use of music in combination with percussion instruments and collective singing produces an ecstatic state in which the participants gain greater understanding and closeness to spiritual enlightenment. For this program we will hear poems from Mowlana in the form of madh and sama’ Sufi songs accompanied by daf (frame drum), tas (double bronze kettle drum), and vocals.