Manashni, Gavashni, Kunashni: a musical journey into Zoroastrian identity
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
7:00 pm to 9:30 pm
- Venue
- King's Place
- Room
- King's Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG
- Event type
- Performance
About this event
We are delighted to present Manashni, Gavashni, Kunashni (Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds), a musical exploration of how sound and performance have shaped Zoroastrian identity across time.
Hosted by Nina Wadia OBE, the concert will feature newly commissioned works and familiar classics, offering audiences a musical journey through the sounds, histories and cultural resonances of Zoroastrianism. Performers will include baritone Frazan Kotwal, violinist Fra Rustumji, pianist Firoze Madan and composers Kahan Taraporevala and Raiomond Mirza.
Developed by Jonathan Galton, the 2025/26 Shapoorji Pallonji Artist in Residence, the programme draws inspiration from the rich musical worlds connected to Zoroastrian culture: from the distinctive soundscape of Avestan prayer to the long history of Parsi engagement with Western classical music and Persianate traditions. Bringing together musicians, scholars and members of the Zoroastrian community, the event reflects a creative dialogue between heritage, scholarship and contemporary composition.
About the Artist in Residence
Jonathan Galton is the 2025/26 Shapoorji Pallonji Artist in Residence. He is a pianist and composer whose work dances between classical form and playful experimentation. Recent albums include All The Years, for solo piano, and Conversations for Violin and Piano. He has also written numerous songs for soprano and baritone, while more unusual works include a trio for the unexpected combination of violin, trumpet and piano, and a piano duet inspired by birdsong over running water.
He regularly performs his own music as well as works from the classical canon in London and further afield. Jonathan is also a Lecturer in Sociology at the UCL Social Research Institute and, in 2023, has published the ethnographic monograph Fake Gods and False History: Being Indian in a Contested Mumbai Neighbourhood (UCL Press). His second book, on Islam and British leftwing politics, will be published by Policy Press in 2027.
