University of York Music Press

The initial commission for the multi-media string sextet/video work Gulistan-e Nur: The Rosegarden of Light, which gives the tour its name, was funded generously by the Ambache Charitable Foundation.  

American string sextet Cuatro Puntos and performers of traditional Afghan music Veronica Doubleday and John Baily will tour  the UK, Germany and The Netherlands. The concerts will present a celebration of music by contemporary Afghan, Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi composers alongside Gulistan-e Nur. Gulistan pairs the sextet with video recordings of Ensemble Zohra – Afghanistan’s only girls’ ensemble from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul.

As mentioned in an earlier news release, the concerts will take place between 28 May – 7 June 2016, at the Purbeck Arts Weeks Festival in Swanage, the Brighton Fringe Festival, York Late Music Festival, the Silk Mill Studios in Frome, St. Peter’s Church, Shaftesbury, the Institute of Cultural Diplomacy, Berlin and as part of a Syrian refugee music programme located outside The Hague. 

Toccata Classics’ CD The Rosegarden of Light (CD342) will be launched at a concert and reception at Goldsmiths, University of London, on 1 June, in association with the Afghan Music Unit and the two youth groups from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music – the Junior Traditional Ensemble and Ensemble Zohra.

For further details of the concerts, please see facebook.com/rosegardenoflight2016 or contact the box offices at the relevant venue.