Hossein Omoumi Ensemble: Music and Song of Persia

Hossein Omoumi, a well respected master of ney (reed flute) returned for a performance at Seattle's Town Hall on April 19 with an ensemble of four noted artists - Paris-based Madjid Khaladj, recognized as one of the leading Iranian percussionists of his generation, string players Amir Koushkani and Naser Musa, and Pacific Northwest's own Jessika Kenney, a former student of Omoumi who is gaining increased recognition for her Persian vocals. The program included musical expressions of the poetry of Rumi and other great Sufi poets, contemporary compossitions and arrangements of popular music from the repertoire of classical Persian music.

The traditional structure of ney is deceptively simple - a piece of reed with five finger-holes and one thumb hole - but the playing technique is extraordinarily difficult. Still Mr. Omoumi made it look effortless and the instrument's highly evocative and haunting sound, described as both reminiscent of human voice and the sighing of the wind, made this performance a mystical, almost spiritual experience.