Alchemy House is thrilled to partner with Value Culture to bring this rare opportunity to see Falsa perform in an very intimate salon setting to San Francisco.
Based in New York City, Umer Piracha is rooted in 14th century Sufi music (Indian classical mysticism similar to Rumi's elevating poetry) with contemporary arrangements transcending genre-specificity and cultural preconceptions, in collaboration with a diverse array of improvisational world musicians.
Under the banner “Falsa”, Umer offers experiences that can range from Minimalist Meditative to Raga Jazz Fusion to high energy World Improvisation that gets you moving, to a more explosive Ritual-Communitas oriented one featuring dancers and immersive visuals. But ultimately, Falsa is about normalizing the transcendent experience.
There's a mystical culinary connection here: Falsa gets its name from a tropical berry native to India and Pakistan. And Sufi music is about a state of separation that longs for union. There was a decade in Umer's life that he couldn’t return home to Pakistan from the US due to Kafkaesque immigration bureaucracies. When he finally returned and had the fruit again, it "broke through all the intellectualization and numbness I realized I had cultivated to cope, and in the process of giving myself over to the majesty of feeling I realized that home is something you cannot take with you, you have to return to it"
Through music, Umer communicates a sense of reverence for the most magical aspects of experience that are gifts and not acquisitions, as Sufi music is not about means to ends, but about meaning and transcendence.
Follow Umer @falsamusic on Instagram, and Falsa Music on Facebook
Value Culture 501c3 non profit organization founded in 2019 by award winner Adam Swig to make a larger positive community impact after years of community service. It’s received national recognition. The mission of Value Culture is to produce and support artistic, educational, charitable, and spiritual events to inspire the next generation to give back to their communities. Value Culture removes barriers to arts, culture, and philanthropy. @ivalueculture
