The building housing the museum of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) is an architectural jewel hidden in the heart of Brussels. A former cooperative bank (Union du Crédit de Bruxelles), the building, designed by Belgian architect Désiré De Keyser (1823-1897), revived since 2010 as a museum. But the spirit of the old-fashioned bank is still there: the ticket hall, the vaults, … The building also has a splendid glass roof and a majestic stairwell. Basically: the ideal place to host the Atine Ensemble and their rich and bright Persian music.

In Atine (Persian for “together”, but also “unprecedented”) brings together four musicians, Aïda Nosrat, Sogol Mirzaeï, Christine Zayed and Niloufar Mohseni, who give a new life to the rich Persian music heritage, thanks to their varieties of influences. The Iranian singer and violinist Aïda Nosrat, who has an Azeri background, finds herself as much at home with flamenco or jazz as with Iranian music. Sogol Mirzaeï plays the tar like a virtuoso for traditional music, often at the side of percussionist Niloufar Mohseni. The ensemble is complete with Palestinian musician Christine Zayed, who studied at the conservatory of Ramallah and Paris, and who gives an Arabic touch to the repertoire with her qanun and singing. Atine, in a contemporary manner, provides an answer to what it means to be Persian and a musician in the twenty-first century.

• Aïda Nosrat: violin, singing
• Sogol Mirzaeï: tar
• Christine Zayed: qanun
• Niloufar Mohseni: percussions