Aga Khan Master Musicians open US tour at Ismaili Center, Houston, on the Center’s first anniversary

Inaugurated on 6 November 2025, the Ismaili Center, Houston – the first in the United States and the seventh worldwide – was conceived as a place open to people of every background: a space for learning, reflection and dialogue. The musicians spent its anniversary weekend in that same spirit. They performed, taught, opened their rehearsal to the public and met members of the Ismaili community and supporters of the Aga Khan Foundation USA who had come together to celebrate the Center’s first year.

“What began as a vision has become a vibrant place of connection, learning, culture and community,” said Al-Karim Alidina, President of the Ismaili Council for the USA. “Over this first year, we have welcomed more than 35,000 visitors, hosted over 40 programmes and – most importantly – created a space where people can come together and build understanding.”

The celebrations began on Friday 6 November, the anniversary itself, when the ensemble joined the Ismaili Council for the USA for a private evening concert.

On Saturday afternoon, the musicians opened their rehearsal to the public, followed by a Q&A with Fairouz Nishanova, Director of the Aga Khan Music Programme. That evening they performed to a sold-out hall, in a concert presented in partnership with Performing Arts Houston.

The weekend reflected the purpose for which the Aga Khan Master Musicians were created. Every member of the ensemble is a virtuoso and a bearer of living knowledge, and every member also teaches, mentors and passes that knowledge on. For these musicians, the concert hall, the workshop and the rehearsal room belong to one practice, in which tradition is a source of new creation and audiences are invited not only to listen but to take part. The music they performed in this new building was itself new: works born in conversation between the musicians, contemporary yet rooted in centuries-old traditions of faith, memory, devotion and wonder.

“The Aga Khan Master Musicians were created to place master musicians at the centre of contemporary artistic life – on great stages, but also among families, students and the communities who carry these traditions forward,” said Fairouz Nishanova, Director of the Aga Khan Music Programme

“To open this tour at the Ismaili Center, Houston, as it celebrates its first year, with audience members learning about our work and purpose in the afternoon and a full hall listening in the evening, brought that purpose to life. This is music informed by the past without being constrained by it, and it belongs to everyone who comes to listen.”

On Sunday 8 November the ensemble travelled north to Richardson for a concert in the Hill Performance Hall of the Eisemann Center. On Monday 9 November the musicians joined the Aga Khan Foundation USA’s “Building a Better Future Together” event for a discussion and a performance.

On this tour, the Syrian-Swiss saxophonist and composer Basel Rajoub, Syrian-Swedish qanun player Feras Charestan, Turkish oud master Yurdal Tokcan and Uzbek doira master Abbos Kosimov are joined by the French accordionist Vincent Peirani. Pipa virtuoso Wu Man, a founding member of the ensemble, joined the opening performances in Texas and will continue with the group to Urbana-Champaign. Oud, pipa, qanun, doira, saxophone and accordion meet in music the ensemble has built together, evolving each night with the musicians who play it.

The tour now heads north and east. On 12 November, the ensemble performs at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. On 17 November, it appears at Sixth & I in Washington DC, presented by Washington Performing Arts. The tour ends on 18 November at Asia Society in New York.

The ensemble returns to the US in spring 2027, when Vincent Peirani and French cellist Vincent Ségal join the Aga Khan Master Musicians for 10 concerts between 2 and 23 April, spanning cities from Athens, Georgia, to Seattle, Washington. Alongside the concerts, the musicians will give school performances and lead residency activities with their presenting partners. They will also travel to Canada for the Fuse music residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Across five US cities this November and 10 more next spring, the tour carries the conviction at the heart of the Aga Khan Music Programme: musical traditions are living forms of knowledge, rooted in history, sustained through teaching and performance, and continually renewed through creativity and encounter.

Remaining Tour Dates

Thursday 12 November 2026, 7.30pm

Urbana-Champaign, Illinois
Foellinger Great Hall, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, University of Illinois
Tickets

Tuesday 17 November 2026, 7.30pm

Washington DC
Sixth & I, presented by Washington Performing Arts
Tickets

Wednesday 18 November 2026, 7.30pm

New York
Asia Society
Tickets

Spring 2027 Tour Dates

Aga Khan Master Musicians with Vincent Peirani and Vincent Ségal

Friday 2 April 2027 Athens, Georgia · University of Georgia Performing Arts Center, Hodgson Concert Hall Event details

Sunday 4 April 2027 Santa Fe, New Mexico · Lensic Performing Arts Center Event details

Wednesday 7 April 2027 Chicago, Illinois · Harris Theater Event details

Friday 9 April 2027 Santa Monica, California · BroadStage Event details

Saturday 10 April 2027 Irvine, California · Irvine Barclay Theatre Event details

Tuesday 13 April 2027 Tucson, Arizona · La Rosa, Arizona Arts Live

Friday 16 April 2027 Berkeley, California · Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances Event details

Saturday 17 April 2027 Stanford, California · Bing Concert Hall, Stanford Live Event details

Sunday 18 April 2027 Rohnert Park, California · Weill Hall, Green Music Center, Sonoma State University Event details

Wednesday 21 April 2027 Banff, Alberta, Canada · Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity

Friday 23 April 2027 Seattle, Washington · Meany Hall, Meany Center for the Performing Arts, University of Washington Event details

For media enquiries, please contact:
Orla Noble, Premier Comms – [email protected]
Susie Gray, Premier Comms – [email protected]

About the Aga Khan Master Musicians

The Aga Khan Master Musicians (AKMM) are the resident ensemble of the Aga Khan Music Programme, a flexible collective of master musicians, educators, composers and arrangers whose practices draw on musical traditions from Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, China and Europe. Each artist has achieved mastery within a rigorous musical practice shaped by distinctive repertoires, performance techniques and pedagogical traditions. Together, they embody the Programme’s commitment to artistic excellence while bringing the knowledge and experience of living musical traditions into contemporary artistic life.

About the Aga Khan Music Programme

Founded in 2000 by Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, the Aga Khan Music Programme recognises the vital role of artists and musicians in societies shaped by Islamic cultures and traditions. It regards music as an essential part of human wellbeing, contributing to dignity, identity, belonging and hope, while opening spaces for curiosity, dialogue and pluralism. By supporting artists and expanding access to high-quality music and the arts, the Programme seeks to nurture imagination, strengthen cultural life and enable sustainable livelihoods.

About the Ismaili Center, Houston

The Ismaili Center, Houston was formally inaugurated on 6 November 2025 by Houston Mayor John Whitmire in the presence of His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V, the Imam (spiritual leader) of the world’s Shia Ismaili Muslims. The first Ismaili Center in the United States and the seventh worldwide, it joins those in London, Vancouver, Lisbon, Dubai, Dushanbe and Toronto. Designed by Farshid Moussavi, with gardens by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, it stands on Allen Parkway overlooking Buffalo Bayou Park and welcomes people of all backgrounds as a place of learning, culture and dialogue.