In partnership with TalkingGigs A performance focused on the poetry and the portrayal of episodes from the life of the 13th century Persian poet Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi. Hailed as the supreme poet of love, his poems have fired the imagination of millions of readers worldwide. The Hamdel Ensemble, led by Seyed Ali Jaberi, is an acclaimed contemporary Persian Sufi music ensemble featuring professional musicians and scholars of Persian Sufi traditions who have performed worldwide. Formed in Iran in 1997, the Hamdel Ensemble gathers and adapts traditional Persian Folk and Sufi music; sharing its unique language, culture and history, using Iranian and Western instruments to perform breathtakingly beautiful music. The Sufi ethic is core to the music of the Hamdel Ensemble and by way of a physical extension to the music they will be joined by a traditional ‘whirling’ Semazan dancer to bring a visual image of devotional transcendence to the stage. Few have made the sound of the tanbour, a sacred instrument among the Persian-speaking world and a powerful and sonorous cultural icon, as beautifully accessible as Seyed Ali Jaberi. Jaberi is an award-winning master of his art, one whose albums remains hugely popular among lovers of traditional Persian and Sufi music. His most recent best-seller, Psalms of Loneliness, scored four out of five stars with Songlines magazine. Jaberi is seen as one of the most significant figures in contemporary Sufi music and has been a pioneer for the tanbour, performing in Iran, North America, Europe and Asia.