"Persian Songs" is an arrangement of compositions by Iranian writer and musician Reza Ghassemi. The pieces were originally recorded by the Moshtag Ensemble on a CD titled "14 Cheerful Pieces." Sepideh Raissadat, who was a student of Russell Hartenberger at the University of Toronto, and who sang on the original recording, introduced Hartenberger to the music. He found the songs quite beautiful and asked Ghassemi if he would allow some of the songs to be arranged for NEXUS and Sepideh. Ghassemi agreed and the result is the suite of Persian Songs. Reza Ghassemi, born in Isfahan, Iran, in 1950, is well-known as a writer and stage dirtector as well as a musician and composer. Before the Islamic Revolution in 1979, his plays won prestigious awards in Iran, but after the revolution they were banned from the theater. Ghassemi immigrated to Paris and gradually distanced himself from theater, devoting himself to music and fiction. The lyrics in "Persian Songs" are from medieval poets who lived and wrote in the ghazai style, known for its melancholy mysticism, rich meters, and the relative simplicity of its language. (Notes by Russell Hartenberger) Sepideh Raissadat is a key figure in the new generation of classical Persian song interpreters. She began studying the Radif (the complete repertoire of Persian classical music) at the age of nine with the famous Iranian diva, Parissa. She pursued her musical training with the masters Parviz Meshkatian and Mohammed Reza Lofti. Sepideh began her recording career at the age of twenty with the album "Konj-e Saburi" (2001). The same year, she was perhaps the first female interpreter to perform as a soloist for a mixed audience in Iran - following the revolution women were only allowed to perform as back-up vocalists. She has given concerts in Europe and North America, invited by such prestigious institutions and international media as the Vatican, UNESCO, the BBC, RAI, and VOA. Sepideh and NEXUS have collaborated in concerts in Canada and the United States since 2014. Louis T. Hardin, aka Moondog (1916-1999) was born in Kansas and moved with his family to Missouri where, at the age of sixteen, he was blinded when a detonating cap accidentally exploded in his face. Moondog was an authentic musical maverick and in 1943 moved to New York City where he stood on a Sixth Avenue street corner performing his music for passersby. His music has glimmers of early minimalist music. It is tonal, pulse-based, often with a steady drum-beat accompaniment and reflects his interest in canons, fugues, and jazz. "Moondog Suite" is a selection of six of Moondog's compositions arranged by Russell Hartenberger for percussion instruments. "Viking 1" is Hartenberger's re-arrangement of a version done by jazz pianist Amanda Tosoff. "Snakebite Rattle" and "Wind River Powwow" are adaptations of Moondog pieces rather than strict arrangements, "In Vienna" and "Pastoral" are percussion versions of Moondog compositions originally written for different instrumentations. Moondog was also a poet, and the lyrics for "I'm This, I'm That" are his original poetry. (Notes by Russell Hartenberger) Since 1971 NEXUS, the internationally-acclaimed percussion group based in Toronto, has been at the forefront of the creation of contemporary music for percussion. Beginning with fully improvised concerts on a variety of instruments from around the world, NEXUS has expanded the concept of percussion chamber music through the compositions and innovative ideas of its members. This recording with Iranian vocalist and setar player Sepideh Raissadat continues a long history of collaborations by NEXUS with musicians from a variety of traditions.