Drum workshop brought Kurdish beats to Tehran

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The beat of the Kurdish drum, the daf, sounded through the Iranian capital this week as prominent performer Hazhar Zahawi held a two day workshop teaching the instrument to 120 fans of the daf in Tehran.

“We presented the workshop on January 25 and 26 for the first time in Tehran, the capital city of Iran,” Zahawi told Rudaw.

One hundred and twenty people participated in the workshop, learning the instrument that Zahawi said “nowadays in the world has great importance.”

He said the students found the workshop very useful and interesting.

Zahawi leads an ensemble called the Kurdistan Nishtiman Music Group that has taken part in many festivals and concerts in and outside the Kurdistan Region. Playing traditional Kurdish music, they have been crowd favourites at festivals around the world.