Welcome! My passion is creating Bahá’í inspired music that inspires the soul and nourishes the spirit. I hope my music brightens your day and brings you joy!
I just released my new album, ‘The Exalted One’, in honor of the bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb. From now until July 10th ALL proceeds from the sales of this album will go towards the funds for building the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
My interview with Baha’i blog just went live! Here is a link to the interview where I share what inspired the creation of ‘The Exalted One’, what brought me the greatest joy in making the album, and my hopes for the project.
All proceeds from the sale of ‘The Exalted One’ will be contributed towards the fund for the construction of the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahábetween the Declaration of the Báb (on May 23rd) and the Martyrdom of the Báb on (July 9th).
Thank you for all your loving comments about this initiative. :)
If you already have one, you might consider giving them as gifts to friends.
I was thrilled when I recently read that plans for the design and building of the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are now in process.
Upon hearing this exciting news, I immediately felt that I wanted to be a part of this historic process.
Therefore I decided that all proceeds from the sale of ‘The Exalted One’ will be contributed towards the fund for the construction of the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá between the Declaration of the Báb (on May 23rd) and the Martyrdom of the Báb on (July 9th).
This seems particularly befitting given that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was born on the very same day as the Declaration of the Báb – May 23, 1844 – and it was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá who worked tirelessly to build the Shrine of the Báb. It brings me great joy to think that ‘The Exalted One’ will contribute to the building of the Shrine of the ‘Servant of God’!
If you already have one, you might consider giving them as gifts to friends.
One of my favorite pieces on ‘The Exalted One’ is titled ‘My Beloved’. It is based on a prayer of the Báb and is sung in 6 languages – English, Spanish, Swahili, Chinese, Italian and French.
For the Declaration of the Báb I have made a video with beautiful photographs of the Shrine of the Báb (thanks to Farzam Sabetian) to accompany the piece. I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to use it for the coming Holy Day.
I would like to thank all the talented singers who recorded on the song: Ali Youssefi (Spanish), Auntieclare Rezin (Swahili), Tracy Chen (Chinese), Ali Gomez (Italian) as well as my talented producer, Daniel Badí Rinaldi.
Thank you for your support of ‘The Exalted One’. I am so thrilled to be receiving emails and posts from friends around the world who have opened their packages with the new album. Thank you for sending them in. :)
I recently made a timelapse video of how each album is prepared – it’s quite the intricate process! Click here to watch it.
Just a reminder that each CD package has a unique download code inside for you to download the music if you don’t have a CD player (see photo below).
Online Platforms
The album is now available on Spotify, apple music, and other online platforms.
On my next blog, I look forward to sharing a video from one of the songs on the album. Stay tuned….
I would like to thank so many friends around the world who supported the making of this album through their generous contributions during the Kickstarter last November.
I am deeply touched that our goal was reached in 3 days! My Kickstarter friends are mentioned by name below.
I have so enjoyed composing, designing and assembling this precious album and I hope that you will enjoy it as much I have creating it.
A special thanks goes to my producer Daniel Badi Rinaldi and Jarome Matthew for mastering the album!
Each album contains a unique download code within the package
Kickstarter supporters
Thank you to all my Kickstarter supporters who helped in the creation of this album.
As you may know, the cover of my previous album ‘The Ancient Beauty’ was inspired by the gate at the entrance to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, with a delicate gold papercut tracery of the intricate design of the “B” that adorns the gate.
The design
For the cover of ‘The Exalted One’, I wanted to use that same motif in order to visually represent the relationship between the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. Both covers therefore feature a similar gold laser cut of the wrought iron gates that lead to the Shrines of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh (in Haifa and in Bahji), reflecting the unity of Their reality as the Twin Manifestations of God for this age.
Befittingly for the Báb, however, the cover of ‘The Exalted One’ actually opens up as a gate, visually alluding to His role as the Herald of Bahá’u’lláh. It is also set against a deep forest green background, the color associated with the mission of the Báb. I must say that the results exceeded my fondest aspirations!
Below are some photos of the creative process so you can see how detailed the design is.
Release date
Only six more days till the release of ‘The Exalted One’ on May 2nd! :)
Photos of the process
Designing all the intricate details around the letter ‘B’
In the end we had to remove one of the rings as it was too detailed
Making sure all the proportions are right
Working with the designer
I have so enjoyed collaborating with Nev, the designer from Oops Studio to work on the cover and design of ‘The Exalted One’ and ‘The Ancient Beauty’. Feeling extremely blessed by the capable hands that helped bring this album alive.
Our first session coming up with the concept for the cover of ‘The Exalted One’
A few years ago I released ‘Rejoice with Exceeding Gladness’ – a song in honor of the Festival of Ridvan. I love listening to this composition: it is in 6 languages and everyone can join in singing the chorus!
The song is a gift to you (please feel free to share it). Even though the link says ‘Buy Now’ you can download it for free (just enter 0 in the amount).
As there were production costs, there is an option for donation. Just enter whatever amount you wish after clicking ‘Buy Now’ on the website.
I have uploaded a video for the Ridvan song that my talented friend Glenn Franco Simmons created of communities from around the world. I hope you enjoy it!Click here to watch it or watch below.
Can’t wait for the release of the new album ‘The Exalted One’ on May 2nd. Stay tuned…
Some friends have been asking for the chords of the song ‘Rejoice with exceeding gladness’ so I am sharing them below. Enjoy!
I am so elated to share with you that my new album ‘The Exalted One’ is now in my hands!
Over the past few days I have been fully engaged in the delightful yet demanding process of packaging the album. :)
As the cover is so intricate, I decided to assemble the packages containing the CDs, the unique code stickers and introduction card myself. Even though this process has been quite time consuming, I have enjoyed every moment of it – especially closing each gate and adding a personal note to every person who helped make this album come to life. :)
Since they are ready earlier than expected I will start shipping them out to the Kickstarter backers first before I make them available on the website.
The formal release date for the album is May 2, 2019, the last day of Ridvan!
I hope you have had a rejuvenating and uplifting 19 days of the Fast. I so enjoyed sharing daily inspiring music on ‘Lofty Notes’ group on Facebook.
We are seeing signs of spring all around which reminds me of growth and beauty everywhere.
Spotify Playlist for Bahá’í Holy Days
As a small gift, I have put together another Spotify playlist (that is also growing) :) of my favourite songs from different musicians for Bahá’í Holy Days.
While I stood on the road waiting for the driver to deliver the duplicated CDs, I was overcome with emotion. The countless hours of love and energy poured into this album and the overwhelming support for its completion moved me to tears. As the driver approached, I blinked hard so he wouldn’t wonder why I was crying! Then I helped him carry the boxes in like a baby in my arms (as you can see in the photo below)! :)
Now we are just waiting for the exquisite deep forest green CD packaging with the gold laser cut Shrine of the Bab gate to be completed. Once all the elements are ready (the CD, the download sticker and the introduction card) I will personally assemble each album package, close each gate myself and place it inside its protective sleeve.
Unique download code for each physical album
I am also happy to share that each album will have a unique download code so that friends without CD players can download all the music digitally.
If you would like to stay updated on the album ‘The Exalted One’ in honor of the bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb, you can join my mailing list here.
