This special Yalda edition of Hum Nawazi brought together two remarkable artists in Persian music - vocalist and qeychak player Pouria Akhavass and Iranian-Kurdish percussionist Sina Fakhroddin - for an evening of music and winter ritual. Yalda, the Persian celebration of the year’s longest night, is a time for gathering, storytelling, and keeping light alive through music and companionship. Through vocals, kemancheh, sehtar, qeychak, tombak, and daf, the concert moved between tradition and improvisation, carried in both Persian and English.

Pouria Akhavass, known for his long association with Maestro Hossein Alizadeh and the Hamavayan Ensemble, brought a deep and expressive vocal presence shaped by years of collaboration across orchestras, recordings, and international stages.

Dr. Sina Fakhroddin, a master of Persian and Middle Eastern percussion and a scholar of Hindustani music, added his distinct rhythmic language - shaped by decades of study, global collaborations, and performance across four continents.