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Sussan Deyhim is an Iranian 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. She was part of the national dance company in Iran from the age of thirteen and she traveled all across Iran studying with master folk musicians and dancers. In 1976 she joined The Bejart Ballet in Europe.

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, theatre, dance, media and film.

Sussan’s wide-ranging collaborations with leading artists from across the spectrum of contemporary art and music have included Ornette Coleman, Bobby McFerrin, Peter Gabriel, Eve Ensler, Bill Laswell, Jan Kaczmarek, DJ Spooky, Maurice Bejart, Shirin Neshat, Sophie Calle and her long time collaborator Richard Horowitz among others. She performs as a soloist with The Polish Radio Orchestra and the Krakow Philharmonic. She has performed her music at Lincoln Center Summer Festival, Carnegie Hall, Albert Hall, The Old Vic, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royce Hall and many other major venues.

Sussan has appeared on many award winning film and television sound tracks Including The Last Temptation of Christ, The Stoning of Sorya M, The Kite Runner, Three Kings, Any Given Sunday, and Sleeper Cell. Her recent score for Tubruk, in collaboration with Richard Horowitz won the Golden Lion for best score from the Czech Academy of Film. Sussans’ many recordings include Mad Man of God, Logic of the Birds, Turbulent, Azax/Attra – Desert Equations, Shy Angle, Out of Phase andMajoun (Sony Classical) are now released on her label Venus Rising Records at http://sussandeyhim.com/.

Hear Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz on Delphine Blue's show tonight on WBAI, 99.5 FM, NYC.

Sussan Deyhim on NPR.org

Richard Horowitz is the founding artistic director of the Gnaoua Music Festival in Essaouira Morocco and was nominated for the American Academy of Arts and Letters Goddard Liberson Awardby Paul Bowles in 1982. He has recorded and performed with vocalist Sussan Deyhim since the early eighties. Their recordings and multimedia operas include Majoun (Sony Classical) Azax/Attra:Desert Equations, The Ghost of Ibn Sabbah and The Gift of Love (Deepak Chopra/Mother Teresa). He also collaborated with Deyhim and Shirin Neshat on the multimedia production Logic of the Birds produced by Lincoln Center, Art Angel in London and The Ortiga Festival in Siracusa Sicily. He is currently working on a new opera with Deyhim: Zarathustra's Mother.

He has recently completed the score for the film Les Amants de Mogador starring Max Von Sydow and is producing cheky Karyo's first recording for Universal Music France. He has also worked with Jon Hassell, David Byrne, Jaron Lanier Duncan Sheik, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Michael Brook, Hassan Hakmoun, Branford Marsalis, Hector Zazu, Doug Wimbish, Will Calhoun, Gram Haynes, Suzanne Vega, Steve Shehan, Marius Devries, Rufus Wainwright, Mickey Hart, Adrian Sherwood, Frank Serafine, and Bill Laswell.

Karsh Kale is an Indian producer, composer and musician, known for melding the music of his heritage with the modern electronic club music of his American upbringing.

He has become a mainstay in Six Degrees Records' expanding series of compilation CDs of which six have been released so far.

Kale's third studio release, titled Broken English was released in the US on March 21, 2006 also under the Six Degrees Records label.

Kale is a prolific artist, willing to lend a hand, and drum, to a range of musicians from Herbie Hancock to DJ Spooky. He has collaborated with many well-known artists, including Bill Laswell, Zakir Hussain, Trilok Gurtu, Talvin Singh, Midival Punditz, among others.

In 2007, he collaborated with Anoushka Shankar to create Breathing Under Water[1], that blends Indian classical, electronica, dance and folk music.

Alan Kushan is an avant-garde musician and concert-performer of Persian/Iranian descent; musical composer; musical instrument-maker; actor; singer; and poet.

Alan is an internationally recognized Persian avant-garde "santurist", and the leading exponent of the New Santur style. After passing through multifarious phases of musical composition and performance on his supremely delicate yet highly sophisticated musical instrument — his self-made hammer dulcimer or santur —, ranging from traditional Persian music, to fusions of Western classical and Persian mystical music, to jazz and world music, as well as futuristic and avant-garde music, Alan Kushan is still audaciously and earnestly experimenting in the musical realm. His techniques on his self-made santur are indeed altogether fascinating and breathtaking.

He studied music composition in Zurich, Köln and Berlin as well as Canada and USA; he also studied with Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Karlheinz Stockhausen and other master musicians.

Not satisfied with the range and capacity of his chosen musical instrument, Alan decided to apply his skills as an instrument-maker to expand the range of his instrument by adding elements from the modern piano, the harp and the guitar. The result is an amazing, unique and powerful instrument, which embodies the musical textures of the ancient and the new.

He joined the avant-garde "culture" in 1985, and his talent for self-publicity quickly made him conspicuous. He cultivates eccentricity and exhibitionism, claiming that this is and has been a prominent source of his creative energy. Indeed, one of his well-known acts at the opening of the Swiss surrealist exhibition in 1986 was his startling appearance in a Roumi outfit.

He appears to have taken over the surrealist theory of "automatism" and transformed it into a more positive method of expression, which he has named "essential encounters". According to this theory one should cultivate genuine delusion against a backcloth of constant "galactic buzz" while remaining residually aware at the back of one’s mind that the control of both reason and will has been deliberately suspended. (He claims that this perspective should be applied not only in artistic and poetical creation but also in the more mundane and platitudinous affairs of everyday life). With this in mind, Alan Kushan’s performance method employs an academically meticulous technique that is, paradoxically, in stark contrast to the unreal "dream space" he generally endeavours to depict, and its markedly other-worldly, hallucinatory character.

Alan Kushan has travelled to and sojourned in many places on the globe in quest of artistic self-realization : Persia, India, Pakistan, Israel, Russia, China, Turkey, Greece, Japan, Europe, Central America and North America. It is these experiences that laid the foundation for his unique love and understanding of global music and cultures. He studied musical composition in Zurich, Koeln and Berlin as well as Canada and the USA. He also studied with Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Karlheinz Stockhausen and other eminent composers and musicians. He is arguably one of the most dynamic forces within the respective contemporary and world music scenes. He has performed and collaborated with some of the most outstanding musicians on the world stage, including Miles Davis, Paco de Lucia, Max Roach, Billy Cobham, Peter Giger, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Mickey Hart, Robert Dick, and Leo Smith, aka Wodada Smith.

Alan Kushan currently resides in New York City whilst finishing work on his new symphony. His current collaborators include the following: the virtuoso Persian singer, Sussan Deyhim; the film composer Richard Horowitz (Sheltering Sky, Any Given Sunday); the legendary flutist Robert Dick; the trumpet player Ray Campbell Jr.; Sun Ra, Peter Brotzmann, Yo La Tango, Don Cherry, Hamid Drake; the bazantar player Mark Deutsch; and the highly accomplished bass player Daniel Patumi.

Spiced with the exotic traditions that infuse flamenco-gypsy, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean folk interwoven with textures of classical, jazz, and Latin rhythms, composer and guitarist Hernan Romero's music is both sophisticated and accessible. It is sensuous, passionate, romantic and inescapably infectious. 
Inspired by the music of his family from his earliest memory, Romero became part of their performing ensemble by the age of four. Romero's mother, popular International singer Estela Raval, contributed to this by surrounding young Romero with the best of musical environments. 
 Romero became strongly influenced by the Flamenco style when his family moved to Cadiz in Andalusia, Spain; receiving classical guitar training from Roberto Lara, one of Andres Segovia's disciples. "It's powerful, flamenco is very strong, and has its influence from the Middle East," says Romero. "The other side is the romantic aspect of Latin music, so it's absolutely the best of both worlds." 
In 1986 Romero moved to New York. While teaching classical guitar in the music program at Five Towns College in Long Island, Romero continued his education, receiving a Masters in Composition and Orchestration from the Manhattan School of Music. Playing in jazz clubs around town, Romero was soon working with some of world's finest guitarists, including Al Di Meola, Paco De Lucia and John McLaughlin. In 1990, Romero produced and played on Di Meola Plays Piazzola, beginning a fertile association with Di Meola that resulted in nine other albums, including Orange and Blue (Rhino Records, 1994), and The Infinite Desire (Telarc, 1998). 
Romero's own passionate music has been featured in a series of CD's beginning in the late 1990s. Zonda (Palmetto, 1999) by Conosur (the name Romero gave to the ensemble) features Romero's fiery guitar and sensual compositions flavored with Latin and flamenco strains. 
Romero then completed Romero-Live at Trinity Church at the landmark Trinity Church in New York City, which he recorded, mixed and repackaged. The event was captured in discrete mulitichannel sound, taking advantage of the exceptional acoustics at Trinity Church. This magical performance lingers on the musical palette and is not easily forgotten. Romero's compositions for Live at Trinity Church present intense and evocative music complimented by a lyrical style which is sure to influence aspiring guitarists for generations to come. The impassioned strains of Romero's virtuosity, both as a guitarist and composer, offer listeners a vibrant and exhilarating sound. 
Romero's Un Segundo Una Vida brought his flamenco and Latin-based jazz to new realms with the addition of more complex orchestration and additional instrumentation; including the melodic strings of a chamber orchestra, and a wide array of penetrating vocals. Romero's most recent CD, Duende, hit number 6 on the Billboard charts (World Music). 
While Romero continues to captivate audiences in New York City clubs and on tour throughout Europe, his composing and performing skills as a collaborator remain in high demand.

Eve Ensler, playwright, performer, and activist, is the author of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES, translated into over 45 languages and performed in over 130 countries, including sold-out runs at both Off-Broadway's Westside Theater and on London's West End (2002 Olivier Award nomination, Best Entertainment.) Her experience performing THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES inspired her to create V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. Ms. Ensler's performance in THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES can be seen in the HBO original documentary of the play (2002).

Ms. Ensler has devoted her life to stopping violence, envisioning a planet in which women and girls will be free to thrive, rather than merely survive. THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES is based on Ensler's interviews with more than 200 women. With humor and grace the piece celebrates women’s' sexuality and strength.

Today, V-Day is a global movement that supports anti-violence organizations throughout the world, helping them to continue and expand their core work on the ground, while drawing public attention to the larger fight to stop worldwide violence (including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM), sexual slavery) against women and girls. V-Day exists for no other reason than to stop violence against women. In ten years, the V-Day movement has raised over $70 million. V-Day was named one of Worth magazine's "100 Best Charities" in 2001 and Marie Claire’s "Top Ten Charities" in 2006.

V-Day stages large-scale benefits and produces innovative gatherings, films and campaigns to educate and change social attitudes towards violence against women. Some of the highlights include the December 2003 V-Day delegation trip to Israel, Palestine, Egypt and Jordan; the Afghan Women's Summit; the V-Day documentary Until the Violence Stops, which premiered at Sundance in 2004; the March for the Missing and Murdered Women of Juarez; the March 2004 delegation to India; the Stop Rape Contest, the Indian Country Project, Love Your Tree, and the V-Day: UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS festivals. In 2008, V-Day celebrated its 10-year anniversary with V TO THE TENTH at the New Orleans Arena and Louisiana Superdome, featuring two days of speakers, art, performances, and wellness programs which were attended by over 30,000 women and men and raised over $700,000 for local efforts in New Orleans to end violence against women and girls.

In 2008, more than 4000 V-Day benefit events - produced by local volunteer activists and performed in theaters, community centers, houses of worship, and college campuses – took place around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls and raising funds for local groups within their communities.

In 2004, Ms. Ensler’s performed her play THE GOOD BODY on Broadway in NYC and at ACT in San Francisco, and in a workshop production at Seattle Repertory Theatre. This was followed by a 20 city national tour in 2005. Both THE GOOD BODY and THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES are now being performed throughout the world and have been published by Random House.

In 2006, Eve released her first major work written exclusively for the printed page. INSECURE AT LAST, a timely and urgent look at how we live today, the drastic measures taken to keep us safe, and how we can truly experience freedom by letting go of the deceptive notion of vigilant "protection." In 2006 Eve also co-edited A MEMORY, A MONOLOGUE, A RANT AND A PRAYER, an anthology of writings about violence against women.

Eve’s plays include NECESSARY TARGETS, CONVICTION, LEMONADE, THE DEPOT, FLOATING RHODA AND THE GLUE MAN, and EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES. THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES, THE GOOD BODY, NECESSARY TARGETS, INSECURE AT LAST and A MEMORY, A MONOLOGUE, A RANT AND A PRAYER have been published by Villard/Random House. VAGINA WARRIORS, words by Eve Ensler and photos by Joyce Tenneson, has been published by Bulfinch Press for V-Day 2005.

Eve’s film credits include an HBO film version of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES. She also produced the film WHAT I WANT MY WORDS TO DO TO YOU, a documentary about the writing group she has led since 1998 at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women. The film had its world premiere at the 2003 and premiered nationally on PBS’s “P.O.V.” in December 2003.

Eve has written numerous articles for Glamour Magazine, Marie Claire, Huffington Post, Utne Reader, as well as a regular column in O Magazine. She has won many awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship in Playwriting and an Obie, in addition to a number of honorary degrees.

From intimate lounge to upbeat dance with the main focus on contemporary global fusion music, Payam transports the listener through the planet and awakens the imagination. Along with residencies at Chez Es Saada, Kush, SoHoHouse NY, Hudson Hotel Cafeteria, Morgan’s Bar & Vermilion Payam has performed at many venues doing private parties, corporate events, fundraisers & extra-ordinary weddings.

Hassan Hakmoun is a powerful,soulful and charismatic "Master" musician who has been performing since childhood on the streets of Marrakech, Morocco. Hassan started performing in his homeland as an entertainer for Gnawa Ceremonies. These ceremonies are known for spiritual healing and trance. He soon became the "Lead Musician" of his group, learning all the music and instruments by heart.

Not before long, Hassan became a Master of the Santir,(a three string,long necked lute). His music has been called prayer, a celebration of emotions, a mixture of happiness and sorrow. Trance is a brilliant fusion of traditional Moroccan healing music, funk, rock, jazz, and reggae. Hassan first made his debut in 1987 at Lincoln Center,New York. Since then, Hassan and his music have been selected by Rolling Stone as one of the "Hot Picks of ..94", topped the charts with his albums "The Fire Within", "Gift of the Gnawa", and "Trance" on the World Music Albums, World Music Charts Europe, New World,and CMJ Radio Top 150 and more. He won "The Album of the Year" in 2003 from the AFIM Indie Awards for the album, "The Gift". He performed at WOODSTOCK 94, WOMAD 94 tour with Peter Gabriel. Hassan Hakmoun has performed and recorded with Randy Weston Don Cherry, Richard Horowitz, Adam Rudolph, Paula Cole, Bob Telson, Peter Gabriel, Ittal Shore,and many more.He has appeared on the Tonight Show and David Sanborn's NBC Sunday Night Music.

Hassan is currently working on his new album which will be a new riveting and sensational collaboration between inspirational singers around the world. Overall, Hassan Hakmoun has truly shined to many people around the world bringing them together, and intertwining the diversity of music. Hassan can hold a crowd in a constant motion of enthusiasm with both him and his bands energy. " I love his extraordinary voice. He has a fantastic way of blending his Moroccan roots with a variety of western and African styles to produce music that is very fresh,modern yet familiar. As a performer he is charismatic, energetic and a spectacular dancer. I'm very happy to be able to work with him." -Peter Gabriel, Rolling Stone