"Let the words and images go deeper into your heart"

PR Newswire / Earth Times Org. - CA, U.S.A.

Wenesday, March 7, 2007

Public Programs at California Institute of Integral Studies presents the Rumi Concert: two evenings of poetry, music, and movement featuring renowned poet Coleman Barks with Zuleikha, Glen Velez, David Darling, and Jai Uttal in celebration of the 800th birthday of Sufi mystic poet Rumi.

"What we are trying to achieve with these concerts is something Sufis call 'sema,'" says Coleman Barks. "This is a deep listening to the spoken word with music-sometimes movement is involved. It's sort of a moving meditation, a way of letting the words and images go deeper into your heart."

Rumi: A Community of Spirit, performed on Thursday, April 5, features readings by Rumi translator Coleman Barks, with dance and story by Zuleikha, percussion by three-time Grammy Award winner Glen Velez, and cello by Grammy Award-nominated composer and performer David Darling.

Rumi and Friends: The Open Sky is performed on Friday, April 6 and adds Grammy Award-nominated world musician Jai Uttal to the line-up.

The Rumi Concert will take place on Thursday and Friday, April 5 and 6, 8 p.m., at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.