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 August 8, 2025 Songs of the Soul and Spirit Sonbol Taefi Concert in Ottawa 
On 31 May 2025, the Ottawa Bahá'í Community was pleased to welcome Sonbol Taefi, a vocal artist from New Zealand. Sonbol, an internationally renowned singer and composer, is a Bahá'í of Persian origin. She brought to the stage in the Kailash Mital Theatre at Carleton University a special blend of soul-stirring songs and music in both English and Farsi. Her musical director, Stephen Small, also from New Zealand, was featured on the theatre's grand piano. He also led a musical entourage made up of the Ottawa-based Rousseau Septet, and two local singers who are members of the Bahá'í community, Lillian Ayoubzadeh and Shayan Saebnoori. The evening featured musical pieces drawing upon the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and Abdu'l-Bahá. The songs that were performed in Persian had English translations projected on a large screen behind the performers, and sometimes the reverse, with the English ones translated into Persian. The evening moved many audience members since the musical selections and songs touched on matters of the soul and spirit as well as depicted events from the early and more recent history of the Bahá'í Faith.  The concert attracted close to 300 friends from the Ottawa and Gatineau areas as well as from the surrounding region. The audience were on their feet on more than one occasion, showing their enjoyment and appreciation for this outstanding performance. This fine gift of music from Sonbol, Steve and accompanying team was held under the auspices of the Ottawa Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly and was a reflection of this statement from the Universal House of Justice: "Indeed the arts as a whole, so integral a part of the development of a community from the start, stand out in such settings as an important means of generating joy." 
It certainly proved to be so for those who attended this wonderful evening. |
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