Playful songs about a squirrel who invites all of the animals in the jungle to a Yalda gathering, worried that the earth might fall asleep on the longest night of the year and not wake up, allow children to explore the Persian celebration of winter solstice marked by the sharing of watermelon, pomegranates and poetry. The singalong in Farsi with rhythmic plays also includes activities.

Link Music Lab presents its first event dedicated to children and Persian culture: Yalda in the Jungle. Hani Niroo, Vienna-based singer, composer and music educator, will be on vocals in collaboration with talented local favourite Naghmeh Farahmand on tombak and Marzieh Rahimzadeh on santur. They will interpret songs Niroo wrote with multi-instrumentalist Martin Shamoonpour for this special edition of Experimental Link Music Nights, which is also the Toronto debut of Marzieh Rahimzadeh.

Link Music Lab gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Canadian Heritage, Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council.