Jalal Kimia -
Daf & Tombak
Jalal Kimia is a persian percussionist born and raised in Iran. He started learning Iranian famous frame drum, DAF from age 16 under the guidance of Meysam Afshin and Behzad Mahjoobi. After some time, he felt drawn to the other persian percussion instruments, such as the Tombak and started learning it from the Master Tombak player, Dariush Eshaghi. Later, he continued his training with Master Pejman Hadadi.
He has performed as a Daf player with various Iranian traditional and folk music groups, including Simorq, Koobang, Bamdad, Pejvak and delshodegan, in many concerts and festivals in Iran, China, Thailand and the United States.
He participated in the festival of traditional Maghami music in north Khorasan, the cultural festival of Iran-Thailand and a great project about Ferdowsi (directed by Reza Saberi). His latest performances were with Pejvak Iranian traditional music band led by Master Behfar Bahadoran at Richard J. Ernst Cultural Center in 2017 and “from an Ancient Legacy” concert led by Master Mehdi Bagheri at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner in 2018.
Jalal has organized weekly Daf/Drum circles at the Iranian American Community Center and Studio Muse, focusing on representing and introducing Persian percussion instruments to immigrant Iranians and non-iranians. As an Iranian percussion teacher he also has held a music workshop for “Roshan Institute for Persian Studies” in the University of Maryland for years.
Based in Washington DC, United states, Jalal Kimia has been teaching Daf by cooperation of Ava music school, Studio Muse, and Pars Place music institute for several years. Following his dream of creating a daf ensemble, he began the Rumi Daf Ensemble with his best followers and students in 2018. The Rumi Daf Ensemble inception, led by Jalal, is his passion and his aspiration!
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