Mehrnam Rastegari Comes to the Old Town School
On May 13, Chicago gets a rare evening with a master of Persian classical music.
Some concerts feel like a gift to a city, not because they arrive with spectacle, but because they bring a tradition you rarely get to hear up close. On Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 7:30 PM, People of Rhythm Productions presents Mehrnam Rastegari at the Old Town School of Folk Music (Gary and Laura Maurer Concert Hall) — an evening rooted in Persian classical music and shaped by an artist pushing tradition into bold, modern directions.
The Old Town School is one of Chicago’s most trusted rooms for world music. It is a space that rewards attention, where the distance between performer and audience narrows and the details matter. That intimacy is part of why this concert is worth circling: Persian classical music lives in nuance — in the weight of a phrase, the patience of a melodic line, and the way silence can carry as much meaning as sound.
Mehrnam Rastegari is a Persian composer, singer, violinist, and master kamancheh player. The kamancheh — an ancient bowed spike fiddle at the heart of Iranian art music — demands both technical command and deep interpretive sensitivity, and Rastegari brings a lifetime of listening to every performance. As a vocalist and composer as well, Rastegari approaches the tradition as a living practice: rigorously grounded, but never static.
Persian classical music is organized around modal frameworks (dastgah) and a vast melodic canon that is learned, internalized, and reimagined in performance. Within that structure, a skilled artist has room to breathe and to take the music somewhere unexpected, while still staying in conversation with centuries of tradition.
The May 13 concert will feature Rastegari accompanied by electric guitar, bass, and drums — threading Persian microtonal tradition through rock, psych, and contemporary styles. Whether this is your first time hearing Persian classical music live or you have spent years following its lineage, this is the kind of room — and the kind of artist — that makes the music land.
For more than 30 years, People of Rhythm has been building audiences for music that asks something of its listeners and gives back in proportion to the attention brought to it. Presenting Mehrnam Rastegari is a continuation of that mission, and an invitation to Chicago to listen deeply.
How to Attend Mehrnam Rastegari performs at the Old Town School of Folk Music (Gary and Laura Maurer Concert Hall) on Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 7:30 PM.
Venue: 4544 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625 Reservations: https://www.oldtownschool.org/concerts/2026/05-13-2026-wmw-mehrnam-restegari/ (or call 773-728-6000)
This show is free ($10 suggested donation is typical for World Music Wednesdays). For updates, visit kenw103.sg-host.com.