Performers from two cultures will bring traditional Persian and classical Western music together in a concert at North Carolina A&T State University on Sunday,  April 21. They will perform in Harrison Auditorium. Doors will open at 6 p.m.; the concert will begin at 6:30 p.m.  Admission is free.

Drs. Mahour Mellat Parast and  Ken Hoppmann have performed together for 11 years in venues around the country.  Parast plays the Persian tar, a string instrument similar to the lute. It has a long neck, a double bowl and six strings that are plucked.  It is one of the major instruments of Iranian music and also is found in the music of Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.

Hoppmann is a classical pianist and music educator.  He performs in a variety of settings, including solo recitals and with symphony orchestras. He has recorded the music of Bach, Liszt, and Schumann.

The performance,  “Worlds Together,” will include solo and duet pieces. In the first part of the concert, Hoppmann will plays several classical piano pieces, and  Parast will play an improvisation in the Persian scales (or Dastgah) Esfahan, Abo-ata and Dashti. After an intermission,  Parast and  Hoppmann will perform duets in two scales, Dastgah Mahour (Introduction) and Dastgah Chahargah (Haft-Zarbi).

Parast was born in Iran. In addition to being an accomplished musician, he is an assistant professor of applied engineering technology at N.C. A&T.  He has recorded a CD of classical Persian music, titled “Freedom.” It is available through the Internetat http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mahour.

Hoppmann is director of music at Southeast Community College in Beatrice, Nebraska. He has taught piano, piano pedagogy, music history, music theory, world music and rock music.