the usual stuff: bio/reviews/itinerary
Karishmeh
Felfeli is an educator, musician, broadcaster and Artistic
Director of Sarabande-The Glenn Gould Project. Her multi
faceted personality as a classical musician, pop/folk vocalist
and music educator is widely acclaimed. The young Persian-Indian
is admired as much for her musicianship as for her exceptional
charisma, and has followed a career path completely her own. Equally at
home performing music by Bach, Brahms and Rachmaninov as
she is singing her own songs, and those by legendary artists such as
The Beatles, The Kinks and Queen, Karishmeh Felfeli is renowned
worldwide for breaking down barriers that exist between the various
musical genres. She regards the music of J.S. Bach and The
Beatles as her greatest influences, and is also very influenced by
electronic and dance music.
Karishmeh has performed in recital halls in India, England, Ireland, America and
Canada including several solo performances at the National Concert Hall, Dublin,
featuring Bach Keyboard Concerti along with works by Gibbons and Byrd, as well
as "Of Songs and Sonnets", a recital on Early Vocal Music, and “Musicians of the
Future”, a celebration of works by composers as diverse as Bach, Brahms,
Granados and others. In collaborative cross-genre concerts, Ms Felfeli has
recently performed (as pianist, vocalist, lecturer) at the Ottawa International
Chamber Music Festival, Wexford Arts Center, Canadian Museum of Civilisation,
Carleton University, National Concert Hall and Goethe Auditorium. At the Ottawa
International Chamber Music Festival, Ms Felfeli presented a series of concerts
focussing where she performed an electronic version of Bach's Concerto in D
minor, along with vocal music by Byrd, Gibbons, Petula Clarke and The Beatles.
Born in Poona, India of
Persian Zoroastrian heritage, and a citizen of Ireland, Karishmeh's most
significant musical experience was her encounter with a recording of a Bach
concerto by Glenn Gould,
a figure who remains the focus of her life. She is Artistic Director of
Sarabande -
The Glenn Gould Project which is a music performance society and concert
project based in Dublin, Ireland. It was originally conceived to provide
performance opportunities for young musicians and raise awareness about music
education.
Sarabande-The Glenn Gould Project also serves as a performance project for
collaborative music ideas, lecture-recitals and crossover concerts
(electronic-classical, classical-pop, classical-traditional, classical-jazz).
While
Karishmeh gained competitive success in India at a very young age,
winning all the major music competitions in the country, and performing
in the Tata Theatre at the National Centre for Performing Arts in
Bombay by the age of twelve,she rejected the competition pursuit very
early on, seeing it as ultimately uninspiring and anti-musical. Without
compromising her technical and musical development as a musician, she
decided to focus on music education, broadcasting and music performance
as part of a wider social benefit. Karishmeh has established herself as
an energetic and passionate performer, lecturer, and communicator whose
message reaches music lovers of all ages.
2009
sees Karishmeh Felfeli return to the studio to record an album of piano
& vocal music including original compositions, as well as works by
Bach, Byrd, Queen, The Beatles, Brahms, and more. Karishmeh Felfeli is also a multiple recepient of Culture Ireland's
Grants for Artists outside of Ireland, and has presented and produced
numerous radio documentaries, most recently for RTE Radio 1 Ireland.
Karishmeh presents and produces Offbeat, a weekly live music radio
program on 103.2 Dublin City FM. She is also involved in animal
welfare, mountaineering, white water rafting and social
work.
reviews
“Her open attitude to
musical performances, so free from pretension, is thoroughly refreshing - the
future of classical music." – The Sunday Times
“The young pianist and
vocalist on this occasion was Karishmeh Felfeli, who was able to breathe new
life into this repertoire, with her natural, unforced delivery and exquisite
diction" – Indian Express
“… one of the most
striking things about this evening was her fascinating introductions and her
offbeat sense of humour. If this sort of music is to stand the test of time,
then it needs to take itself a little less seriously, and that is exactly what
this concert demonstrated” Sunday Mid Day
“ The spoken
introduction to the Brahms was so spontaneous, so brilliant that when the music
followed, one couldn’t help but be mesmerised. What a unique young musician she
is…” The Maharashtra Herald