Events > San Francisco Events > BEYOND PERSIA'S WINTER SOLH FEST BY LALE' SHAHPARAKI
In celebration of Peace and the Persian Culture
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Beyond Persia celebrated its first year anniversary on December 7th, 2007 at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. The sold out show was designed to promote Peace and Persian Culture on the eve of the Winter Solstice, hence the name “Winter ‘SOLH’ Fest”.
Among the artists Beyond Persia Showcased on this night was Pianist/composer, Arjang Rad, authentic crooner Hamed Nikpay, actor Sheila Vossough with her sidekick, Maryam Sayyad (daughter of beloved Parviz Sayyad) as the evening’s emcees, and of course Beyond Persia’s own discovery, KIOSK. While all musical performances got standing ovations, the performance that brought the house down was a duet jam session between Kiosk’s Arash Sobhani and Hamed Nikpay who fused their respective edgy/traditional styles into an unbelievable mix of old and new, hot and cool, Hamed and Arash variety perfection.
In addition to the stars on stage the audience was riddled with celebrities like actor, Behrouz Vossoughi, Dancer, and former Iranian beauty pagent winner Niosha Nafei, Babak & Friends Producers, Dustin & Mastaneh Ellis, ICARUS/RISE creator and performer Niloufar Talebi, Founder of the Noor Film Festival, Siamak Ghahremani, and philanthropist and Unique Zan Founder, Bita Daryabari among many others in the thousand person crowd.
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Honorary host San Francisco City Supervisor, Ross Mirkarimi (half Iranian half Russian) wished Beyond Persia a happy birthday in Farsi and said:
“When I came into office in 2005, I wanted us to assert our identity which is why I thought no policy, no politician can do what the arts can do, the rich, amazing art that really catalyzes this modern world which emanated from the Persian Empire.'
Ahsha Safai of Anar, who collaborated with Beyond Persia in putting on this event, formally announced his bid as candidate for the board of Supervisor’s in San Francisco’s 11th District which drew huge cheers from the crowd.
But the evening’s highest honor was presented to Beyond Persia in the form of a commendation from the Commission, for the past year of service to the Iranian Community, by the Honorable, Dr. Elahe Enssani, San Francisco Commissioner for Immigrant Rights.
'In immigration, community substitutes extended family,' Enssani said. 'We become each other's surrogate parents, surrogate cousin. I realize I know every single one of you. There's hardly anyone I don't know by first name. That's amazing. That's the power of community. This is what Beyond Persia has done for our immigrant community.'
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The evening ended with a VIP party hosted by Beyond Persia in the lobby of the Palace of Fine Arts with a full Persian dinner, followed by dancing with local favorite DJ Aykut.
Beyond Persia's plans for 2008 include more art exhibits and film screenings across the US, several concerts for emerging atists of Iranian descent, like Mamak Kahdem and Iman Vaziri, as well as working with Parviz Sayyad, Hadi Khorsandi and of course the much anticipated Abjeez US tour which starts in April 08.
For more information go to www.beyondpersia.org.
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Images courtesy of Jahanshah Javid of Iranian.com.
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