Placeless is the first collaboration between Kronos Quartet and Iranian singers Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat. Recorded in Oslo’s Kulturkirken Jakob, the album features 14 songs composed by Mahsa Vahdat to classical poems by Hafez and Rumi and the works of contemporary Iranian poets Forough Farrokhzad, Mohammad Ibrahim Jafari and Vahdat’s husband Atabak Elyasi. Composers Sahba Aminikia, Aftab Darvishi, Jacob Garchik and Elyasi arranged the songs for string quartet.

Kronos and Mahsa Vahdat were first introduced by Aminikia, when he served as the artist-in-residence of Kronos Festival 2017. Kronos and Mahsa Vahdat performed together for the first time at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco in February 2017 as part of the festival. Since then, they have performed in Reggio Emilia, Italy; Oslo, Norway; Wrocław, Poland; Geneva, Switzerland; and across the United States in Rohnert Park, California; Santa Barbara, California; Athens, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; New York, New York; and Washington, D.C.

SELECT CREDITS

Mahsa Vahdat, vocals

Marjan Vahdat, vocals

Kronos Quartet
David Harrington, violin
John Sherba, violin
Hank Dutt, viola
Sunny Yang, cello

Melodies composed by Mahsa Vahdat

Produced by Erik Hillestad

“The Kurdish Song,” a traditional Kurdish folk song arranged by Sahba Aminikia and sung by Marjan Vahdat, was released as bonus track in November 2019. All proceeds from the sale and distribution of the track will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.