ARIANA VAFADARI
MEZZO SOPRANO
COMPOSER
New song
"A heartbreakingly beautiful performance" - New York Times
"A great lady (...), a rare artist, who puts femininity in the spotlight" Radio France
"Ariana Vafadari releases a truly astounding album, Anahita. This classically trained singer offers herself a concept album traversed
"With a sublime song that moved us deeply." Jazz Actuel
"This strikingly beautiful and light work testifies to vocal talent, but also to depth"
of the singer's philosophical approach. » Jazz Radio
A Franco-Iranian singer trained at the Paris Conservatory, Ariana Vafadari weaves together her Eastern heritage and her passion for classical music. A mezzo-soprano with a rich timbre and also a composer, she creates sonic epics that blend traditional, classical, and jazz music, where Zoroastrian wisdom poetically sheds light on the questions we face today.
In 2016, she composed and recorded the album Gathas, Songs my father taught me, a standout at the Fes Festival of Sacred Music, and in 2020, the album Anahita. Her latest work, 4Women, has taken her to stages such as the Nice Opera and the Bordeaux Opera.
She has blended her music with electronic music through collaborations with Philippe Cohen Solal, DJ Satori (Lalai, Spotify’s Best Releases of 2022), and DJ Chambord at the Burning Man Festival and the Exit Festival.
Her agile mezzo-soprano voice, musicality, and dramatic presence allow her to take on opera roles: while she sings Dorabella in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, it is above all in the Baroque repertoire that she truly shines. She plays Nero in L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Proserpine in Orfeo, and Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. She also tackles the contemporary repertoire and enjoys immersing herself in the more intimate world of chamber music. She performs on stages such as the Opéra de Lyon, the Opéra de Dijon, and the Opéra de Toulon, as well as in concert at the Salle Pleyel and the Grand Théâtre du Luxembourg.
4 WOMEN
New creation
Music: Ariana Vafadari, Book: Atiq Rahimi, Author/Artistic Advisor: Julien Cabocel
With Ariana Vafadari, Marianne Svasek, Gulay Hacer Toruk and Cindy Pooch (vocals)
Julien Carton (piano), Keyvan Chemirani (percussion),
Rusan Filiztek (Saz and Oud), Leila Sodevila (Double Bass)
4 Women tells the story of the decline in the status of women in Asia and the revolt of the Iranian people. The writer and filmmaker Atiq Rahimi has written four stories, based on the testimonies of several women, a kind of Medea monologue, filled with compassion for those who must face poverty, forced marriages and violence in their lives, a Medea who escapes her fate and refuses to be a bargaining chip for men, she will meet in turn 3 women, from India, Turkey and Cameroon. These voices are accompanied by the piano, the double bass, the oud, and percussion.
This initiative embodies Ariana Vafadari's approach, which seeks to build bridges between eras, spiritualities, and people through music. "4Femmes" tragically echoes current events in Iran and the war in the Middle East. For its Dubai premiere in an orchestral-free version, Ariana Vafadari accompanied three young women, allowing them to express their suffering and hopes on stage.
This project was born from a meeting with the women of the Asia Women of the Future choir, which helps young women from South Asia and the Middle East who are victims of violence to pursue their higher education in France. Ariana is vice president of this association and supports these young women in their journey.
©WilfriedAntoineDesveaux
ANAHITA
"Anahita" invents a legend, that of a woman whose village is ravaged by drought and who must wander the world in search of Anahita, the Iranian goddess of water, fertility, and wisdom. A mystical quest blending the poetry of Rumi and Leili Anvar and prayers from the Avesta , but which also resonates with a very real tragedy, that of the drying up of soils due to the diversion of rivers and the overconsumption of water.
With Ariana Vafadari (vocals), Julien Carton (piano), Rusan Filiztek (saz and oud), Leila Sodevila (double bass) and Karine Gonzalez (devish whirler)
©WilfriedAntoineDesveaux
Collaborations
Debussy Quartet
Keyvan Chemirani
Bruno Helstroffer
Rusan Filiztek
Julien Carton
Leila Soldevila
...
electronic collaborations
DJ Satori
LALAI
ft. Habib Meftah Boushehri
Crosstown Rebels label
best releases of 2022 on Spotify
Philippe Cohen Solal
(Gotan Project)
Zan Zendegi Azadi
Album 75010
based on the lyrics of Iranian rapper and activist Toomaj
DJ Chambord
ORVIL
Ouïe Circle Label