Female Voices of Resilience

Female Voices of Resilience brings together voices that are being silenced in Iran – and which, for that very reason, resonate all the more powerfully. In an extraordinary concert project, young Iranian female singers, who were forced to leave their country only recently, join forces with the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne. They belong to a generation of female artists whose lives and work have been transformed following the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini in 2022. Many of them left Iran in the wake of the ensuing protests – not by choice, but out of necessity to protect their voices and their art.

Since 1979, women in Iran have been banned from singing solo in public. And yet, it has never been possible to silence these voices completely. Over the decades, Iranian women have found ways to defy this ban – quietly, in secret, persistently. The artists performing this evening stand in precisely this tradition. They have sung, even though they were not allowed to. And now they are standing – together for the first time – on a major stage outside Iran. It is precisely in this first-ever joint appearance that the special intensity of this concert lies. What is forbidden in Iran becomes visible and audible here: female voices at the centre, as an artistic, cultural and political form of expression all at once.

The singers performing this evening are: Foroogh Fazli, Ghazaal Ansarirad, Hana Kamkar, Sanam Maroufkhani, Hura Mirshekari, Maliheh Moradi, Mina Deris, Samin Ghorbani and Hani Mojtahedy

The programme unfolds as a musical journey through the cultural diversity of Iran. Different regions, languages and musical traditions enter into dialogue – from Azerbaijani and Kurdish influences, through Qashqai and Baluchi music, to contemporary forms that interweave Iranian and Western genres. This transcultural soundscape offers a multi-layered perspective on Iran – beyond simplistic images, characterised by diversity, movement and mutual interpenetration. At the same time, this project gives rise to a unique form of collaboration: for the first time, a transculturally oriented Iranian ensemble, the Inner Unity Ensemble, meets the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne in this constellation. Traditional Iranian instruments meet the symphonic orchestra, whilst solo performances by young Iranian women form the centrepiece. A musical space emerges in which different traditions not only meet, but intertwine and give rise to new forms of expression.

The instrumental soloists are Sara Hasti on the kamancheh, Mehrnoosh Zolfaghari on the santur and Avin Ahmadi on the oud – enriching the concert with further sonic dimensions that bridge tradition and the present.

The project is under the artistic direction of Yalda Yazdani and is being developed in collaboration with programme manager Faranak Rafiei and production manager Lale Konuk. The musical arrangements were created by Matthias Kaufmann and Mahan Mirarab, whilst the musical direction of the concert is in the hands of conductor Juya Shin.

Female Voices of Resilience is thus more than just a concert. It is a moment of visibility, a space for self-assertion and an artistic testimony to resistance and hope. Where voices are suppressed, sound becomes presence here – and music a form of freedom.