WMI: Hamid Rahmanian's Song of the North

Masks are encouraged and appreciated, but not mandatory for this event.

Song of the North is a mesmerizing large-scale, cinematic performance combining the manual art of shadow puppetry with projected animation to tell the courageous tale of Princess Manijeh, a heroine from ancient Persia. Our female hero uses her superpowers to rescue her beloved from a perilous predicament, and to prevent a war. Adapted from the Shahnameh (the national epic of Persia written over 1,000 years ago), Song of the North is created and directed by 2014 Guggenheim Fellow Hamid Rahmanian, and the original score is written and orchestrated by Loga Ramin Torkian, featuring vocalist Azam Ali. This dynamic, family-friendly production involving over 480 handmade puppets and described by Le Monde as bursting with “breathtaking fireworks of creativity” was presented to sold out audiences at Brooklyn Academy of Music in March 2022.

Ensemble: Sam Jay Gold, Harrison Greene, Jenny Hann, Esme Roszel, Zack Perez, Sarah Walsh, Clay Westman, and Christopher Williams

The ORIGINS series features artists who delve into the folklore and roots of their respective culture’s music to tell the story of their origins, preserving and affirming cultural identities and legacies.