The Labyrinth Ensemble is a 14-person ensemble based in Toronto, Ontario, representing a variety of musical traditions and aesthetics within the world of modal music. The Ensemble engages in a multi-week rehearsal intensive with a specialized guest artist to learn music in its authenticity while collaborating in its presentation. The Ensemble is unique in the world in that it draws from each member’s musical lineage to create a hybrid yet faithful sound.

This performance marks the debut of a new cohort, who will dedicate the next four years to this project.

This performance features Alex Fournier, Araz Salek, Yosef Brailovesky, Behzad Danesh, Beth Silver, Elise Boeur, Joshua Greenberg, Naoko Tsujita, Naghmeh Farahmand, Saghi Farsijani, Sara Constant, Soheil Sadeghi, Yalda Ehsani, Yang Chen, and Lina Cao.

Born in Tehran, Âriâ Mohâfez studied santur and tombak with Sa’id Ma’sumi, Mehri Râstqadam, and Majid Kiâni.

In 2007 Mohâfez became a member of the Hamnavâzân-e Sheydâ ensemble, appearing on audio recordings such as Vatanam Iran, Yâdvâre-ye Âref-e Qazvini, and Sâye-ye Jân.

Since being awarded runner-up in the highly competitive Solo Instrumental section at the Mugam festival in Azerbaijan (2018), Mohâfez has released duet albums Sarva (2016) and Peyda (2018) and toured around Iran with teacher Mohammad-Rezâ Lotfi and Switzerland with Sepidar Ensemble.

His Canadian debut will be on May 3 with the Labyrinth Ensemble.