Eishan Ensemble

“casts a spell all its own… astonishing power and convulsive impact.”
John Shand, SMH

Led by acclaimed Persian-Australian tar player and composer, Hamed Sadeghi, the ARIA nominated Eishan Ensemble draws on contemporary and classical music traditions of both East and West. Eishan’s repertoire consists predominantly of Sadeghi’s original compositions with diverse improvisatory idioms featured powerfully. Variously described as “Persian chamber jazz” and “Middle-Eastern jazz fusion”, Eishan defies neat labels. Sadeghi’s psychedelic virtuosity is joined by the individual talents of Michael Avgenicos on saxophone, Adem Yilmaz on percussion and Maximillian Alduca on double bass to create the layered and sophisticated soundscapes of Eishan. Formed in 2016 and currently based in Sydney – Australia, Eishan has toured internationally and nationally for numerous times and performed at the most well-known festivals and concert halls in Australia, Asia and Europe. They have been nominated for ARIA Awards 2021 for best world music album.

The Artists
Hamed Sadeghi
Composer and musician Hamed Sadeghi is an Iranian-born tar player and composer based on Gadigal land (Sydney). Trained as a Persian classical musician in Tehran, Hamed’s haunting compositions give you a taste of his cherished culture. He has performed at the most notable music festivals and in prestigious concert halls in Australia and overseas. He has toured nationally and internationally with his band Eishan Ensemble, the improvisation trio Vazesh and with Persian maestro Shahram Nazeri amongst others. He has been scoring music for multiple theatre productions including Belvoir and William Zappa’s The Iliad. He has been commissioned by major festivals to compose and perform new works including shows at Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival and Fourwinds festival. As a composer Sadeghi has released 4 albums to critical acclaimed and has earned recognition through nominations for ARIA Awards 2021 for best world music album and best jazz album He has been a finalist at APRA Art Music Awards and have been nominated for best original score of mainstage production at Sydney Theatre Awards.

Michael Avgenicos
From Sydney, Michael’s performance career has taken him around Australia and abroad to Asia Europe and the USA. Performing on alto and tenor saxophones, clarinet and flute, Michael is an active member of a number of bands; having recorded albums with experimental jazz group COAST, FRYJA, Eishan Ensemble, Aaron Blakey and Gregg Arthur. He also co-leads and composes music for his own group, the Avgenicos Brothers, who recently released their debut album ‘TREADING WATER’ Recent performance highlights include opening for Brandon Marsalis at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, performances for Sydney Festival and VIVID festivals and national and international tours with Eishan Ensemble and COAST. A graduate of The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (Bachelor of Jazz Performance, 2016), Michael Avgenicos was a finalist in the same year at the prestigious National Jazz Awards – Saxophone Competition in Wangarratta, SA. In 2017 he received the Big Brother Movement (BBM) award for excellence in music.

Adem Yilmaz
Born in Istanbul 1992, Adem Yilmaz is a highly renowned percussionist of Kurdish origin from Turkey. He began playing his first instrument is Darbuka (Goblet Drum) at the age of eight. Having Mr. Izzet Kizil, one of Turkey’s most recognised and internationally known percussionist as his teacher, Yilmaz specialised in a variety of eastern percussion instruments and found himself in a world where he was performing with many bands as well as being involved in many of those bands’ album recordings. Since migrating to Sydney, Australia in 2014, Adem established himself, within a short period of time, as a versatile and sought-after percussionist and has been involved in many bands such as ARIA nominated Zela Margossian Quintet, and the acclaimed ARIA nominated band Eishan Ensemble, The Catholics and more. Yilmaz continues his musical journey in Sydney, collaborating with many artists, projects and participating in festivals.

Maximillian Farrell-Alduca
Maximillian Alduca has established himself as a force of creative energy amongst the Sydney Jazz and experimental music scene. Alduca has worked alongside some of Australia’s biggest names in Jazz including Mike Nock, Paul Grabowsky and Dale Barlow. As well as accompanying such luminaries, Max is a chief collaborator in projects that have been touring locally and internationally with recent performances at Copenhagen Jazz festival (Vulkan DK/Aus), Wellington Jazz festival (Steve Barry trio) and Manly Jazz festival (The Pocket Trio) to name a few. Alduca is an active recording artist who has been featured on recent album releases including ‘Blueprints and Vignettes’ (Steve Barry Quartet), ‘Good Winter’ (Antipodes Aus/NZ) as well as soon to be released album ‘All At Once’ from The Pocket Trio.

Get Tickets

There is very limited parking around the QMC. We encourage all guests to use public transport. QMC is only a 2-minute short walk from the Holman Street Ferry Terminal and bus routes 27 and 234. You can find more info about how to get to QMC at http://qmc.org.au/visit

Presented by Eishan Ensemble with support from BEMAC