Areej

Show & Culture

“I have become you, and you me; I the body, you the soul.” This couplet is attributed to Amir Khusrau, poet and musician of medieval Delhi, in whom India and the Persian world recognise themselves. It is this ancient kinship that Areej – Arabic for “fragrance” – rekindles. Based in Luxembourg, the ensemble brings together six musicians from the Arab-Turkish and Indian classical traditions, each with their own ornaments, modes, and musical language. No skin-deep fusion here: at times maqam and raga answer one another, at times each repertoire rings out undiluted – and it is in improvisation, the beating heart of both legacies, that the six voices find their accord.