Galeet Dardashti’s multi-sensory project and album, Monajat, is inspired by old and haunting recordings of Jewish prayers chanted by her late grandfather, Younes Dardashti, a famous master singer of Persian classical music in 1950s/60s Iran. Galeet reinvents the ancient ritual of Selihot—poetry sung nightly preceding the Jewish New Year as spiritual preparation—by singing with remixed samples of her grandfather’s legacy recordings. Riffing off these old tapes, Galeet composes a soundscape of original music performed by an acclaimed ensemble of Middle Eastern and jazz musicians.

Monajat was made possible by grants from (1) the Dorit and Gerald Paul Fund for Jewish Culture and the Arts, Born Jewish Studies Program, Indiana University; (2) FJC (which commissioned Monajat from its Inaugural New Jewish Culture Network); and (3) the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.