Renowned Vocalist & Activist Sussan Deyhim Has First Orange County Appearance at Irvine Barclay Theatre

Renowned for her hauntingly beautiful vocals, Sussan Deyhim will perform at Irvine Barclay Theatre on Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 8pm. A composer and multi-faceted vocalist from Iran, Deyhim has collaborated with legendary artists including Peter Gabriel, Bobby McFerrin and U2. This special night will feature songs from La Belle et La Bête, her most recent recording project. Accompanied by a stellar jazz trio, she will sing a program of classic love tunes, popular songs from 1950s and 1960s Iran, as well as her own original compositions written in collaboration with composer and multi-instrumentalist Richard Horowitz, a Golden Globe Award winner for the film The Sheltering Sky. Tickets for Sussan Deyhim: La Belle et La Bête range from $45 - $110 and can be purchased at www.thebarclay.org or by calling 949.854.4646. Irvine Barclay Theatre is located at 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine, CA. For more information, visit www.thebarclay.org.

Sussan Deyhim is a fascinating original voice in music and the arts. Her rich and complex vocals are warm, beautifully sung, and always surprising." - Bobby McFerrin

Sussan Deyhim creates thrilling music that sounds in the ear long after you've left the show. - The New York Times

"Sussan Deyhim is one of Iran's most potent voices in exile." - Los Angeles Times

"One of the five Iranian women visionaries you need to know." - The New York Times

La Belle et La Béte is my latest recording release and my first song-oriented album and concert project. I am thrilled to have connected with Mitch Forman, John Leftwich and Steve Hass who have brought their truly masterly musical sensibility to this project.

Since this is my first concert event in Orange County, I have decided to also present some of my latest compositions from my stage productions and film scores. This work is more textural, polyphonic and harmonically more in the vain with the works I am known for.

So, the program tonight will feature some of the original and classic cover songs from La Belle et La Béte and a few of my compositions in collaboration with my partner, composer Richard Horowitz. These include the soundtrack of my latest multi-media stage production The House is Black Media Project, inspired by the works of Iranian literary heroin and icon Forough Farrokhzad. The production has been presented at Royce Hall and The Wallis in Los Angeles and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. I will also perform a piece from my score for Logic of the Birds, another media stage production in collaboration with Shirin Neshat, inspired by the poetry of a Persian mystic poet.

Why a jazz-influenced album!

Since I moved to New York City in the 1980's, I've had the blessing of being surrounded by great musicians from all disciplines. I always found myself closely collaborating with some of the great jazz musicians in New York City and Europe. To begin with, I met my partner Richard Horowitz in New York City. He had come from many years of stay and study in France and North Africa as a free jazz musician. I was introduced to the music of Cecile Taylor, Charles Mingus and Alice and John Coltrane, and the marvels of Moroccan sub-Saharan music, among others.

I then performed with Bobby McFerrin's brilliant improvisational vocal ensemble, Voicestra. Bobby and I met during our work with the Sony Classical label. Richard Horowitz and I had just released the first hybrid album of world/classical for Sony Classical during Peter Gelb's work at Sony Classical. Peter moved to become the head of Metropolitan Opera. I also performed with Ornette Coleman at the Barbican in London. These associations will always be among the highlights of my musical collaborations and something to be extremely proud of.

My concentration in music as a composer has been mostly in creating vocal compositions that are harmonically influenced by both the western classical harmonic sensibility and mostly inspired by eastern microtonal musical roots. I have also dedicated my time to the study of the global, indigenous and ethnic vocal heritage. These astounding techniques have made me understand what the human voice is capable of producing.

I am hoping this presentation will bring a compilation of my musical experimentations and vocal works to Irvine Barclays Theater.

I would like to thank my very special guests: a brilliant team of award-winning master musicians who have generously graced my album La Belle et La Béte with their craftsmanship, including John Beasley, Lili Hayden, Satnam Ramgotra, Hamid Saeidi, M.B. Gordy, Greg Ellis, Haggai D'israeli and Mehdi Bagheri.

Also, gratitude to Jeannie Lurie (Emmy Award and Critics Choice Movie Award winner for best song) for co-writing our beautiful song Take You Home with a beautiful track by Grammy winner Itai D'israeli.

Sussan Deyhim

Sussan Deyhim is an Iranian-American composer, vocalist and performance artist. She is internationally known for creating a unique sonic and vocal language imbued with a sense of ritual and the unknown.

From 1971 (at age thirteen) to 1975, she was part of Pars National Ballet in Iran, travelling all across Iran studying with master folk musicians and dancers. In 1976, she joined The Bejart Ballet in Europe after receiving a scholarship to attend Bejart's performance art school, Mudra, where she was trained in many of the great world dance, music and theater traditions, as well as in classical ballet. Her music remains true to the spirit of her ancient heritage while pointing to the future with a very personal and poetic dramatic sensibility. In 1980, she moved to New York, embarking on a multifaceted career encompassing music, theater, dance, media and film. She created and starred in ground-breaking media operas at La Mama in the 80s, including Azax/Attra and The Ghost of Ibn Sabah.

Sussan's wide-ranging collaborations with leading artists from across the spectrum of contemporary art have included Ornette Coleman, Bobby McFerrin, Peter Gabriel, U2, Bill Laswell, Micky Hart, Branford Marsalis, Jerry Garcia, Rufus Wainwright, Marius de Vries, Doug Wimbish, Keith Le Blanc, Skip McDonald, Adrian Sherwood and The Blue Man Group and with three of the most prominent female visual artists, Shirin Neshat, Sophie Calle and Lita Albuquerque. Her composition "Windfall/Beshno Az Ney" was used by U2 throughout the US and Europe in U2's 360° Tour, the highest-grossing concert tour in history.

Sussan has performed with international orchestras, including the Polish Radio Orchestra and the Kraków Philharmonic and has received commissions as a composer from international ensembles such as Bang On A Can. She has performed her music at the Lincoln Center Summer Festival, Carnegie Recital Hall, Albert Hall, The Old Vic and the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Her most recent projects include the acclaimed stage production The House is Black Media Project, inspired by Forough Farrokhzad's works and life, presented at Royce Hall, The Wallis and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The piece was originally sponsored by The Farhang Foundation and the Center for the Art of Performance at CAP UCLA.

An audio-visual presentation of Deyhim's work was recently presented at the prestigious Courtauld Institute in London. This is the second lecture in a series hosted by Dr. Sussan Babaie and co-organized by the Iran Heritage Foundation with The Courtauld Institute of Art, and in association with independent curator Vali Mahlouji.

Her upcoming projects include Forbidden Echoes, a composition for an all-female choir based on the Conference of The Birds, a masterpiece by Attar, the mystic Persian poet.

Her double album of soundtracks for Shirin Neshat's video installations, Rapture and Logic of The Birds, is exclusively available at The Shop at The Broad.

Venus Rising Records has released nine albums of her works for film, TV and media projects, including her latest recording, La Belle et La Béte

Sussan has been a frequent participant at humanitarian events and benefits, including a performance at the gathering of the spiritual leaders of the world at the United Nations General Assembly in 2001; the first Gathering of Female Spiritual Leaders in Geneva at the United Nations; the Royal Hope Gala at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England with Placido Domingo; The Royal Ballet and many others, for medical aid to Iraqi children.

In 2009, she performed in a sold out concert at the United Nations General Assembly organized by Pakistan's biggest rock musician and activist, Salman Ahmad, to raise funds for misplaced children in Pakistan.