“We had three rejections, for people from Iran and Turkey. We hoped our festival would connect people. It's very disappointing that politics can disrupt artistic connections.”
“We still get messages from them. This is really good music, even if people don't know the names of the composers. It's opening the music to the world.”
“Don't expect to hear Western classical music! This is music that is bright and colorful in instrumentation and harmony, full of the richness and drama of the cultures. It has been very hard to select the works we will feature from so many. It has taken us more than a year.”
