Tag Archives baha’i music

100 Musical Initiatives, Musicians and Albums Featured on Baha’i Blog So Far!

Music, Resources 1 Comment

We’re super excited to share 100 musicians, musical initiatives and albums featured on Baha’i Blog so far!

It’s been so awesome seeing all the amazing initiatives and talent from all over the world, and so now, in order to celebrate the fact that we’ve featured 100 posts in this category so far, we thought it would be a good time to list them all, starting from our very first interview with producer, Navid Bahmani, to our most recent interview with Persian Baha’i rapper, Ahdi, and everything in between!  Continue reading →

Baha’i Blog Presents 11 Songs from The European Baha’i Choral Festival 2019

Art & Creative Works, Music 1 Comment

The 2019 European Baha’i Choral Festival was held from May 29 – June 2 at the Baha’i House of Worship in Langenhain, Germany. At this, the second European Baha’i Choral Festival to date, over a hundred participants came together to sing, share music with others and to strengthen the bonds of fellowship and harmony amongst Baha’is and their friends across Europe. Continue reading →

Worlds Within: An Album by Danny Stevenson

Interviews, Music 1 Comment

Danny Stevenson is a friend I met years ago in Namibia, and some of you may recognize him from his Baha’i Blog Studio Session recorded in the UK called “Crimson Ink”. It’s always great to hear when someone who’s participated in our Studio Sessions series goes on to record their first album, so I was excited when I heard that Danny has released Worlds Within, a devotional album inspired by the Baha’i Writings.

I wanted to find out more about the album and the inspiration behind it, so here’s what Danny shared with me: Continue reading →

Trust: The Music of Nasim Maani

Interviews, Music 2 Comments

I recently had the pleasure of catching up with a dear friend named Nasim Maani and her family at the 2019 ABS Conference which took place in Canada. Nasim is a dear friend from when I lived in New Zealand years ago, and although she’s not a professional musician by trade, over the years she decided to channel her passion for music and her passion for the Baha’i Faith into creating Baha’i-inspired music.

We’ve featured some of her music videos here on Baha’i Blog in the past, and I was excited to learn that in honor of the bicentenary of the Birth of the Bab this Baha’i year, she released two versions of a new song called “Trust” to commemorate this special occasion.

I decided to catch up with Nasim to find out more about this new song and her music in general: Continue reading →

Songs of the Spirit Volume 2 – An Upbeat Album & Songbook for All-Ages by Diana Howlett

Interviews, Music 2 Comments

Diana Howlett’s upbeat and catchy melodies remind me of singalongs from the summer schools of my childhood and sing along is exactly what she hopes you’ll do! Diana is equally passionate about producing songbooks as she is with creating albums and she releases them jointly. Her music thus far has consisted of devotional music based on the Writings (these albums are called Intone O my Servant) and those that are Baha’i-inspired in their content (such as Songs of the Spirit). Songs of the Spirit Volume 2 is her latest work featuring music about holy days, the history of the Baha’i Faith and concepts such as love and unity.

Diana shared with us about how it all came together. Here’s what we chatted about: Continue reading →

Baha’i Blog Presents “Una Serata con NAIM (An Evening with NAIM)”

Music, Videos Leave a comment

Baha’i Blog is excited to share a new music initiative called “Una Serata con NAIM” which is Italian for “An Evening with NAIM”.

In this live concert filmed in his hometown of Genoa, Italy, Italian singer and songwriter NAIM takes us on a musical journey where he shares music from his album Libero, and interweaves principles of the Baha’i Faith and the inspiration behind the songs.

A couple of years ago, the team at Baha’i Blog wanted to experiment in creating a music video series called “Baha’i Blog Presents An Evening with…”, where we would film and record live Baha’i-inspired concerts featuring various Baha’i musicians and bands. I had just interviewed NAIM about his album Libero (which you can read here) and he was organizing a concert based on the album. It was as if the stars aligned. He graciously accepted to be the first to help us try out the idea of filming “An Evening with…” and so “Una Serata con NAIM (An Evening with NAIM)” came to life! Continue reading →

Gate of Heaven: An Album Dedicated to the Bicentenary of the Birth of the Bab by Luke Slott

Interviews, Music 6 Comments

Over the last two years, Baha’is and their friends around the world have been celebrating two landmark occasions: firstly, the bicentenary anniversary of the Birth of Baha’u’llah in 2017, and now in 2019, the bicentenary anniversary of the Birth of the Bab. In relation to these two special anniversaries, the Universal House of Justice wrote that “At the heart of these festivities must be a concerted effort to convey a sense of what it means for humanity that these two Luminaries rose successively above the horizon of the world. Of course, this will take different forms in different contexts, extending to a myriad artistic and cultural expressions, including songs, audio-visual presentations, publications and books.”

Over the course of these two special years, we witnessed a wonderful response of artistic expression from around the world. One of the efforts came from singer-songwriter, Luke Slott, who decided early on to honor these two special occasions by releasing two albums: the first is called Year of the Nightingale, to honor Baha’u’llah, and the second and more recent album is called Gate of Heaven, to honor the Bab. Continue reading →

Rise Then: A New Album by David Khavari

Interviews, Music 1 Comment

A couple of years ago while I was living in San Francisco, USA, I would occasionally attend a devotional gathering at a friend’s house, and at the very first one I attended, I met a wonderful young Baha’i named David, who would bring his guitar and sing beautiful songs based on the Baha’i Writings.

Just before I left San Francisco, we organized some Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions there, and David came and recorded two songs (which I’ve included at the bottom of this article). After the recordings, he said he wanted to record an album, and so now, in honor of the bicentenary of the Birth of the Bab, I was excited to learn that David did just that, and released a new album called Rise Then.

I got in touch with David to find out more about his music and the album, and here’s what he had to say: Continue reading →

The Martyrdom of the Bab: An Oratorio by Keivan Towfigh

Interviews, Music 5 Comments

As Baha’is and their friends begin to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of the Bab, artistic expressions in all sorts of media are emerging that testify to the connection between people’s hearts and the Bab, Prophet-herald of the Baha’i Faith. Keivan Towfigh’s oratorio, The Martyrdom of the Bab, is one such example in a style we don’t often see or feature here on Baha’i Blog. What’s an “oratorio” you ask? An oratorio is a large-scale musical work for orchestra and voices, like Handel’s Messiah. It usually tells a religious story and is performed without costumes or staging.

I was curious to hear all about this special oratorio and how it came into being, so I connected with Keivan Towfigh to find out more: Continue reading →

Celebration – An Album for the Twin Bicentenary Celebrations of the Births of Baha’u’llah and the Bab

Interviews, Music Leave a comment

A spirit of loving collaboration really shines through the music on Celebration, an album in honor of the bicentenary anniversaries of the Births of Baha’u’llah and the Bab, Founders of the Baha’i Faith. Its 16 original tracks beautifully marry multicultural rhythms and sounds with extracts from the Baha’i Writings. The album was put together by a group of friends in Quebec, Canada, and I was able to ask Pierre Tremblay how it all came together. Here’s what he shared with me:  Continue reading →