Paris, France, 5 April 2025 – The Aga Khan Master Musicians have collaborated with two eminent French performers in the first of two sold-out world premiere concerts at the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris. The performance on 5 April 2025 was given in the presence of members of the Aga Khan family, founders of the Aga Khan Music Programme. They included Prince Amyn, Prince Hussain, Princess Fareen and Prince Aly Muhammad.

The two concerts serve to showcase new developments in the Aga Khan Master Musicians’ pioneering music making across borders and cultures. The performances also provide compelling insights into music from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa for an international audience.

The concerts bring together five exceptional performers from the Aga Khan Master Musicians collective. Wu Man is a world-leading virtuoso on the pipa, a Chinese lute, and a passionate advocate of her country’s traditional music. Syrian-born multi-instrumentalist Basel Rajoub has developed an entirely new repertoire for the saxophone, while his compatriot Feras Charestan is a master on the qanun, a Middle Eastern plucked zither. Turkish oud master Yurdal Tokcan and Uzbek Abbos Kosimov, a virtuoso on the doira frame drum, complete the outstanding quintet of Aga Khan Master Musicians.

They are joined by two eminent French musicians who are themselves celebrated for their explorations across musical genres. Award-winning accordionist, singer and composer Vincent Peirani has worked across jazz, contemporary music and improvisation, while Vincent Ségal is a renowned cellist and bassist who has collaborated with artists including Sting, Cesaria Evora and Elvis Costello.

All seven accomplished musicians worked together to devise entirely new music in which their respective traditions intermingled and cross-fertilised. The results – revealed to huge acclaim in their world-premiere performance in Paris – are a collection of jointly-created works inspired by the ancient routes that connected trade and culture between Asia and the Mediterranean. This cross-continental collaboration is a celebration of sonic richness and cultural heritage, brought to life by some of the most passionate and distinguished voices in global music today.

The performances were commissioned by the Musée du Quai Branly on behalf of the French Ministry of Culture.

In providing a meeting place for a vibrant exchange of ideas between cultures, the concerts reconfirm the Aga Khan Music Programme’s commitment to fostering the creation of new music based on long-standing traditions, and to celebrating musical pluralism, diversity and richness.

Alongside the members of the Aga Khan family, guests at the first concert included members of the Government of France, French cultural figures and ambassadors from a number of countries.

The concerts represent the inaugural collaboration between the Aga Khan Master Musicians quintet, Peirani and Ségal. The vibrant musical partnership will develop further, with future concerts in Geneva (5 July 2025) and at the Edinburgh International Festival (22 August 2025).