Jazmourian Ensemble (Dr Anna McDonald and Malek Mohammadi Nejad). Photo by Andrew Sikorski.
From a church in Braidwood to a Persian-style garden in Sutton Forest and University House in Canberra, Jazmourian Ensemble, Ensemble-in-Residence at the ANU School of Music, will present three concerts this October.
What might a musical dialogue between Johann Sebastian Bach and the traditions of Iran sound like?
Violinist and kamancheh player Dr Anna McDonald and Iranian setar player Malek Mohammadi Nejad take up that question in Bach in Shiraz.
The Braidwood and University House performances will present Bach in Shiraz , a program that places the dances from Bach’s Partita No. 2 for solo violin – including the celebrated Chaconne – in dialogue with the musical language of the Iranian setar.
Rather than blending the traditions into a single style, the musicians allow each to retain its own voice while listening and responding to the other.
“One is primarily a written musical tradition, and the other is primarily an oral tradition, yet the connections between them are palpable when the dialogue is heard,” McDonald and Mohammadi Nejad say.
The first performance will take place at St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Braidwood. Completed in 1892, the church offers an intimate acoustic setting for violin and setar.
The same program will be performed at University House later in the month, in a setting the musicians describe as intimate and well suited to hearing the detail of their musical dialogue.
Between these two performances, Jazmourian Ensemble will present a different program in the Persian-style gardens of Golden Vale Homestead in Sutton Forest.
For this outdoor concert, McDonald will exchange the violin for the Iranian kamancheh. The ensemble will also be joined by ANU School of Music students Harry Howard on baroque flute and Alina Farisa on guitar.
Howard and Farisa are members of Songroads Ensemble, the intercultural classical student group taught by Jazmourian Ensemble as part of its residency at the School of Music.
Surrounded by the garden’s colours, scents and birdsong, the concert invites audiences to consider the relationship between Persian music and the natural world. It will be followed by a garden ramble and afternoon tea.
All three performances explore connections between musical traditions through historically related modes and scales, rhythmic patterns and approaches to improvisation.
“Searching for a common musical language inspires unexpected creativity,” McDonald and Mohammadi Nejad say.
For the musicians, attention to nature also shapes how they approach cultural exchange in Australia. They hope their emphasis on nature walks and deep listening can encourage a greater understanding of First Nations connections to Country, waterways and skies.
Performance details
Jazmourian Ensemble: Bach in Shiraz
Sunday 4 October 2026, 3–4.15pm
St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Braidwood
Jazmourian Ensemble: Garden Concert at Golden Vale
Saturday 17 October 2026
Arrivals from 12pm; concert 1–2.15pm; garden ramble and tea 2.30–3.30pm
Golden Vale Homestead, Sutton Forest
Bach in Shiraz at University House
Friday 23 October 2026, 6pm
University House, The Australian National University
Free admission; booking details to come.
