Abdu’l-Baha was the eldest son of Baha’u’llah. When Abdu’l-Baha passed away on 28 November 1921, He was eulogized as One who led humanity to the “Way of Truth,” as a “pillar of peace” and the embodiment of “glory and greatness.”
I am so excited to be sharing the news that Baha’i Blog has just hit the huge milestone of publishing our 200th Studio Session, yes that’s right, our 200th Baha’i Blog Studio Session! (And it’s also kind of cool that this happened in the year that Baha’is around the world will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Birth of the Bab, the forerunner to Baha’u’llah, the Prophet founder of the Baha’i Faith).
If you haven’t heard of Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions, then I encourage you to check it out, but basically it’s an initiative where we invite Baha’is and their friends around the world, to come into a studio on location, and then we film and record an original song which must be based on the Baha’i Writings or letters of Shoghi Effendi, or the Universal House of Justice (though we have made some rare exceptions to this rule such as this tribute to Mona Mahmudnizhad by Tom Francis singing a cover of Doug Cameron’s “Mona With the Children”). We then make these videos and audio recordings available weekly on our YouTube Channel and SoundCloud page for everyone to listen to and be inspired!
We started Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions about three years ago, partly inspired by a letter from the Universal House of Justice which stated: “We long to see, for instance, the emergence of captivating songs from every part of the world, in every language, that will impress upon the consciousness of the young the profound concepts enshrined in the Baha’i teachings.”1
So far we’ve published songs from 36 global locations in 28 different languages, and I’m always blown away by all of the wonderful talent and songs that exist in communities worldwide! We couldn’t have come this far without the help of so many wonderful souls who have not only taken part by singing in the Studio Sessions, but to all those who have helped in so many different ways, from picking people up from a train station, to helping to edit the videos. We’d really like to thank EVERYONE who has helped so far, in making this wonderful contribution to the arts a reality!
As many of you know, music and the arts are of significance in the teachings of the Baha’i Faith, and the Baha’i Blog team has been working hard over the years to help encourage and celebrate the arts in its various forms. So it’s no wonder that we’re super excited about this achievement, and we thought a good way to celebrate these 200 songs would be to list one example of each of the 28 languages we have represented so far, and then list one example from each of the 36 locations as well.
Thanks again to all those who have made this a reality, and thanks to all of you who continue to listen to our Studio Sessions and support Baha’i Blog and what we’re trying to do!
We’d love to hear about how you’ve been using Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions in your own home or community in the comments section at the end of this post.
Before we begin the list, a special mention goes to our most viewed Studio Session called “No One But Thee” by Calla Kinglit, which is based on the Writings of the Bab and which was filmed and recorded in Toronto, Canada.
Here are examples of the 28 languages featured on Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions so far:
01. Albanian
02. Arabic
03. Bislama
04. Chinese (Mandarin)
05. Dutch
06. English
07. Finnish
08. French
09. German
10. Greek
11. Hindi
12. Italian
13. Japanese
14. Mongolian
15. Persian
16. Portuguese
17. Romanian
18. Russian
19. Samoan
20. Serbian
21. Spanish
22. Swahili
23. Swahili (Congolese)
24. Swati
25. Swedish
26. Welsh
27. Xhosa
28. Zulu
Now here are examples from each of the 36 locations we’ve filmed and recorded in so far, listed in alphabetical order:
01. Arequipa, Peru
02. Auckland, New Zealand
03. Belgrade, Serbia
04. Brisbane, Australia
05. Bristol, the United Kingdom
06. Chicago, USA
07. Durban, South Africa
08. Essen, Germany
09. Frankfurt, Germany
10. Genoa, Italy
11. Gold Coast, Australia
12. Helsinki, Finland
13. Hluboka nad Vltavou, the Czech Republic
14. Key West, USA
15. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
16. Lisbon, Portugal
17. London, the United Kingdom
18. Los Angeles, USA
19. Madrid, Spain
20. Manzini, Eswatini
21. Melbourne, Australia
22. Nashville, USA
23. New York, USA
24. Paget, Bermuda
25. Paris, France
26. Paita, New Caledonia
27. Phoenix, USA
28. Port Vila, Vanuatu
29. Prince Edward Island, Canada
30. San Francisco, USA
31. Stockholm, Sweden
32. Sydney, Australia
33. Tilburg, The Netherlands
34. Toronto, Canada
35. Vancouver, Canada
36. Washington DC, USA
Well that’s it for now, and we hope you’ve not only enjoyed the Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions series so far, but have found them useful as well. Don’t forget to let us know how you’ve been using Studio Sessions in your own home or community in the comments section below, and thanks again to everyone for your support!
You can find out more about Studio Sessions from this article.
Watch Baha’i Blog’s Studio Sessions series here on our YouTube channel, and don’t forget that you can also listen to the series here on our Soundcloud playlist as well.
Footnotes & Citations
Letter from the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies, 12 December, 2011[↩]
Naysan is passionate about using the arts and media to explore the teachings of the Baha’i Faith. Back in 2011, Naysan started up the Baha’i Blog project, channeling his experiences in both media and technology companies to help create a hub for Baha’i-inspired content online.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia.
We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their cultures; and to elders both past and present.
Baha’i Blog is a non-profit independent initiative
The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha’i Faith.
The studio sessions are wonderful!
Jay y (March 3, 2019 at 2:48 PM)