The Roof of the World Festival

Singer, songwriter, guitar player who just announced her third TV special that she will be filming next month. Just in the last two years alone she has not only released more new music but had significant success at radio, including charting a couple of her songs. She also toured Europe, including opening for ZZ Top. And she has done music videos that on YouTube alone have gotten hundreds of thousands of views. She's working on nationwide tour dates for 2019 and has started building an international tour as well.

From performing solo routines in her parents’ living room at the age of three to now exhibiting her dance skills worldwide, Tara Catherine Pandeya has certainly come a long way. Born to an Indian American father from Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, and a German American mother from Marin County, Calif., Pandeya is a second-generation dancer, teacher and choreographer who hypnotizes spectators at every venue with her flawless movements and graceful twirls. Pandeya, a trained dancer in many forms, including Bharatanatyam, traditional Middle Eastern, modern, tap and ethno-contemporary, now specializes in dance from the regions of Central Asia: Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, East Turkestan, Iran, and Azerbaijan.

BURN THE BALLROOM IS A ROCK PROJECT FOUNDED IN THE WASHINGTON DC METRO AREA. BTB BLURS THE LINES BETWEEN ANTHEM, ROCK, PUNK, ALT, AND POP MUSIC. THE BAND HAS TOURED ACROSS NORTH AFRICA, THE MIDDLE EAST, RUSSIA, ASIA, EUROPE, AND ALL ACROSS THE USA. BURN THE BALLROOM IS THE FIRST ROCK BAND TO PARTNER WITH THE US STATE DEPARTMENT AMERICAN MUSIC ABROAD ENDEAVOR TO REPRESENT AMERICA AND AMERICAN ROCK MUSIC ACROSS THE GLOBE.

French singer Charles-Baptiste brings an impressive variety with his repertoire, boldly showcasing his musical experimentations. He incorporates French pop and classical influences into his music, and unites various musical styles – all while keeping true to his goal: to bring people together with lyrics that speak to all generations. With his “1 keyboard-2 voices-1 laptop-1 bass” set-up, look forward to an enjoyable evening of French pop music with the energetic Charles-Baptiste, who will definitely get you grooving and going ‘Encore’!

Badakhshan Ensemble: Song and dance from the Pamir Mountains. The Badakhshan Ensemble takes its name from the mountainous region - poetically known in Persian as Bam-i Dunya, the “Roof of the World” - that comprises the sparsely populated eastern half of Tajikistan and northeast Afghanistan. There, nestled in a series of riverine valleys that descend from the Pamir Mountains to the Panj River, the boundary line between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, are scores of small settlements whose inhabitants have cultivated a vibrant tradition of devotional song, dance, and contemplative instrumental music.

Meshk (meşk in Turkish) is the traditional method of training in high arts, including but not limited to music. It is the way the tradition is transmitted between the generations. It entirely depends on mutual and one-to-one interaction between the pupil and the teacher. In this relationship student learns not only the technical aspects of the art, but also its tradition and certain manners and behavioral code of its practitioners. Two sided nature of meshk is apparent in the way it is used as a word where a teacher not “teaches” but “meshks” the skills and information to the student and similarly, student not “learns” but “meshks” it from the teacher. Currently, main focus of the group is recovery and presentation of the lost “Ayin” compositions. There are only 74 "traditional" compositions known to be composed before 1925 when the Mevlevi lodges were shut down. These valuable pieces which have not been played for more than a hundred years are now part of the repertory Meshk presents.

Daler Nazarov is a living legend of Tajik and Pamir music. Daler's works are the history of centuries-old culture of Asian peoples, these are songs of Pamir mountains and ancient valleys. His songs simultaneously combine classical poetry of Persian literature, multidimensional music, combining ancient tradition with modern sound and, of course, the boundless heart of the musician himself. Probably, therefore, having visited Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, not to mention Tajikistan, you will certainly hear Daler Nazarov's melodies in the native language for these places performed by local ensembles. Today he is a cult figure, an idol of several generations, not only of Tajikistan, but also of a huge space, whose name is Central Asia.

Amikaeyla Gaston (U.S.A.) is an award-winning singer, activist, and executive director/founder of the International Cultural Arts & Healing Sciences Institute (ICAHSI). ICAHSI partners with government, NGO, and educational institutions, as well as corporations and individuals to provide innovative programs that unlock expression through music and the arts. ICAHSI conducts workshops, presentations, and multimedia events around the world – from classrooms & boardrooms to concert halls and refugee camps. Ami was a featured speaker at TEDx Gramercy 2014. She is the winner of eight Washington Area Music Association Awards for Best Jazz, World and Urban Contemporary Vocalist.

Edil Khusainov is a composer, soloist-instrumentalist, plays ancient Kazakh musical instruments such as zhetygen, sybyzgy, saz-syrnay, kamys-syrnay, kaursyn-syrnay, shan-kobyz. Owns a rare kind of vocals - throat singing. Edil Khusainov is a participant of many international festivals in Europe, USA and Asian countries. Has performed at renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington and the UNESCO Hall in Paris. In 2006 he performed at London's Albert Hall and held a recital in Tokyo. Edil Khusainov's work is a synthesis of the ancient and the modern. The musician works in the genres of folklore, ethno-symphonic and ethno-jazz-rock music. He recorded one of his discs “Bulbul Zaman” at the famous Beatles studio - Abbey Road, is the author of musical compositions for feature films - “Karak Korpe”, “Kelin” and “Akshy bala”.

GMH Orkestar – founded by Franziska Hatz, this Viennese band started in 2010. Their music is a mixture of klezmer traditions, pop, folk, rock, ska and jazz elements. Since the very beginning, they've been a breath of fresh air on the Austrian music scene. They played with Randy Brecker, Dean Bowman, DJ Shantel and bands such as Bucovina Club Orkestrar and Sandy Lopicic Orkestrar. Each concert is like an eruption of unbelievable energy, unique mastery and humor. They can make anyone dance even the most reluctant people, so... let’s dance! (Jewish Culture Festival Warsaw 2013)

Musician, singer, photographer and writer from Riga/Latvia. My heart belongs to music, photography, art, writing, but most of all – traveling, nature and adventures.