In 2008, Iranian-Canadian singer and multi-instrumentalist Golnar Shahyar settled in Vienna. Since then, she has become known as one of Europe's finest contemporary and improvised vocalists, composing and producing her own music and collaborating on dance, theater and opera projects. Her music, an extraordinary blend of languages and styles, draws equally from the traditions of South and West Asia and North Africa as well as from the contemporary music of Europe and the Americas. Many of her songs carry the weight of tragedy, but there is nothing negative in her music. She is gracious and open on stage and in life, and even the darkest, most tragic stories are delivered with an underlying sense of relief.