Lecture, performance to focus on Silk Road

In a year when Iran has been in the political spotlight, this year’s Silk Road Bayram, a music festival focusing on the Silk Road region, wants to bring attention to Iranian music.

To open the festival, Shahyar Daneshgar, director of the Silk Road Ensemble, will be giving a public talk 7 p.m. Friday in Ballantine Hall 109 about the region’s music, which stretches from northern Africa to China.

“It’s about what connects this gigantic land mass,” he said. “In the Silk Road regions, a number of different things connect these people.”

The talk will include several demonstrations of different genres by Daneshgar, the ensemble and Ostad Jalal Zolfonoon, a master setar player from Iran and the festival’s special guest.

“I’d rather see that our music speaks to the public,” Daneshgar said.

The festival will continue from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 8 at the First Presbyterian Church, with an Eastern percussion workshop and performances by the Silk Road Ensemble and Zolfonoon.