The Great Night of Rumi celebrates the 800th anniversary of the birth of 13th Century Persian poet Jelaluddin Rumi, bringing his poetry to life through a richly woven tapestry of spoken word, music, and dance.

Born in 1207 in what is now Afghanistan, Rumi, founder of an order of Sufi mystics, composed more than 70 thousand verses in his lifetime on themes of divine love, mystical passion, and ecstatic illumination. Rumi has became widely known in the West over the past decade, as people discovered the great resonance of his poetry, with its expressions of the universal longing for beauty, connection, and joy.

Tonight, join Dan and Dale Zola as they lead a multi-faceted exploration of this great mystic, bringing alive the passion, drama, and humor of his poetry through imaginative performance that combines spoken word and beautiful live music. The diverse group of presenters includes author Roger Housden, actresses Chetana Karel and Carolyn Zola, and singers Hossein Massoudi and Debby Golata, as well as Barry Spector, Maya Spector, Clarressa Morrow, Nader Ostvar, Alexis Bennett, and Doug Von Koss.

Creating a seamless blend of music and spoken poetry, four masters improvise a musical setting for each poem. Featured are Gary Haggerty on various middle Eastern instruments including sarod, tambour, saz, and oud; Sheldon Brown on flute, sax, and clarinet; Arshad Sayeed on tabla and santour; Claude Palmer on oud, bass, and hand drum; plus Aziz, who performs the ecstatic whirling dance that Rumi loved.