Samawatie, Cymin

Cymin Samawatie © Heike Steinweg

Singer, composer and conductor Cymin Samawatie was born in Germany to Iranian parents and grew up between two languages and cultures. She studied classical music with a focus on percussion and piano at the Hanover University of Music and Drama and jazz singing at the UdK Berlin. She gained international fame as the singer of her quartet Cyminology. Cymin Samawatie’s compositions blend the timbres of impressionism with the liveliness of contemporary jazz. She combines new compositional structures with chamber music, free improvisations and minimalism with Persian poetry from the 12th to the 21st century. In 2018, she was awarded the German World Music Prize RUTH.

Festival Content

PERSIAN POETRY IN EUROPEAN EXILE: As much of the fatherland as I’ve got in my suitcase

READING, TALK AND MUSIC – Developments in Iran over the past few decades have forced countless writers into exile, often with little more than their own language in tow. “As much of the fatherland as I have in my suitcase” is a poem about exile by the poet Esmail Kho’i, who passed away in London in 2021.

Abiz, Alireza • Ekhtesari, Fatemeh • Falaki, Mahmood • Schaffa, Mudzgan • Rafani, Roshanak • Aras, Maryam • Abdollahi, Ali • Samawatie, Cymin