Lead singer Galeet Dardashti follows a family tradition of distinguished musicianship dating back to 19th-century Persia. But it was down in Austin, Texas, where this bold, all-woman Mizrahi/Sephardi ensemble began dazzling audiences with its Middle Eastern grooves. Infusing traditional and original Jewish songs with sophisticated harmonies and entrancing improvisations, today Divahn has engendered an international following, performing in venues ranging from top concert halls in Poland to the most prestigious clubs in NYC.
The group's thrilling live shows include lush string arrangements, eclectic Indian, Middle Eastern,
and Latin percussion, and vocals spanning Hebrew, Judeo-Spanish, Persian, Arabic, and Aramaic. Dardashti's diverse background performing Persian and Arab classical music, Ashkenazi cantorial music, Western classical music and jazz enhance Divahn's unique and innovative sound.
The group has appeared at music festivals and live television and radio shows internationally and has shared the stage with some of the world's most renowned master musicians. As one of the few groups performing Mizrahi and Judeo-Arab music in the US, Divahn welcomes its audiences to a beautiful sphere of shared Jewish and Muslim culture.
Galeet Dardashti (lead vocals)
Vocalist, composer, and scholar, Galeet Dardashti, is the first woman to continue her family’s tradition of distinguished Persian and Jewish musicianship. Her grandfather (Younes Dardashti) was one of the most highly acclaimed singers of Persian classical music in Iran and her father, Farid Dardashti, was a renowned cantor in the US. Galeet Dardashti has earned a reputation as one of the most innovative performers of Middle Eastern and Jewish music today. In addition to founding and leading Divahn, she received a Six Points Fellowship to pursue her multi-disciplinary project and 2010 nationally acclaimed release, The Naming, which interprets some of the compelling women of the Bible. Time Out New York called The Naming“ urgent, heartfelt and hypnotic,” and The Huffington Post described it as “heart-stopping.” In her most recent commissioned multi-sensory piece, Monajat, Dardashti—accompanied by an acclaimed ensemble of Middle Eastern and jazz musicians—reinvents the reflective musical ritual of Selihot using digital technology to sing with recordings of her famed Iranian grandfather. As a scholar, she holds a Ph.D. in anthropology, specializing in Mizrahi cultural politics, music and media. She has held Assistant Professor positions at NYU and the Jewish Theological Seminary and is currently a Fellow at University of Pennsylvania’s Katz Center. She offers residencies, lectures, courses, and interactive workshops on her artistic and academic work throughout the US and abroad.
Eleanor Norton (cello, vocals)
Eleanor is an internationally renowned cellist known for her versatility and lyricism. From Adele to Jay Z, Eleanor appears with a coterie of artists across genres and platforms. A graduate of the Peabody Institute of Music and now based in New York City, Eleanor has regularly performed on television, including the America’s Got Talent, The Tonight Show and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Late Show with David Letterman. She tours extensively with long-time collaborators Alan Cumming, Natalie Merchant, and Kristjan Jarvi's Absolute Ensemble. Broadway work includes the cello chair at the Cher Show and subbing on Hadestown, Jagged Little Pill, Mean Girls, Moulin Rouge The King and I, My Fair Lady, Little Women, The Last Ship. Off-Broadway: For The Last Time, and The Invisible Thread. Extended world tours: Adele, The Jonas Brothers, Chris Garneau, Joshua Radin, and Arlo Guthrie. Eleanor was the cello coach and music consultant for Saffron Burrows on the Amazon Prime TV Show Mozart in The Jungle, Sarah Jeffrey on the NBC drama Shades of Blue, and Eisa Davis for her role in the theater production of The Secret Life of Bees. Notable appearances with Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Moby, Jake Shears, Bebe Rexha, Avril Lavigne, Bela Fleck, Gladys Knight, Cassandra Wilson, Moby, James Blake, Avril Lavigne, Beyoncé, Sarah Chang, Dionne Warwick, Bonobo, Jay Z, Simone Dinnerstein, Justin Timberlake, Bassam Saba, Thalia, Marcel Khalife, Princeton Symphony, Hawaii Symphony, and Vermont Symphony Orchestras, and at the 2010 State Dinner hosted by President Obama. Eleanor is endorsed by NS design electric strings and Mezzo-Forte Carbon Instruments, and her primary instrument was made in 2015 by Peter Westerlund. www.eleanornortoncello.com
Elizabeth Pupo-Walker (percussion, vocals)
Internationally recognized percussionist Elizabeth Pupo-Walker contributes to film score/soundtracks for Netflix and HBO, and she has performed, recorded, and/or toured with numerous well known musicians including Michael Buble, John Legend, Mark Ronson, Christina Aguilera, Sinead O’ Connor, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, The Roots, Reggie Watts, members of R.E.M., and Pearl Jam. She has also been featured in Drum magazine, and has performed at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, on Conan O’ Brien, and The James Corden Show. In 2019, Elizabeth was co-composer on Cochemea’s entire album, released on Daptone Records, which shot to #7 on the Billboard Jazz charts and #4 on Billboard’s World Music charts. Elizabeth is of Cuban descent and focuses primarily on the study of Afro-Cuban percussion. She studied in Havana, Cuba at Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba, and continued her study in Matanzas, Cuba with the world-renowned percussion ensemble Los Munequitos de Matanzas. www.elizabethpupo-walker.com
Sejal Kukadia (tabla, background vocals)
Sejal is originally from upstate NY and is a disciple of renown musician Pandit Divyang Vakil. Tabla is primarily a male-dominated instrument, and today, Sejal is one of very few female tabla artists in the USA. She is one of the original founding members at the Taalim School of Indian Music, a cultural institution that offers Indian classical music classes in NY, NJ and CT. Sejal is a former member of the tabla ensembles Tabla Triveni, Tabla Upaj, and the all-female tabla trio, Taalika. Sejal is the author of Rhythms of Tabla, an acclaimed guidebook for understanding and learning the main rhythmic instrument of North Indian Classical Music. In addition to teaching at Taalim School, Sejal is the head tabla teacher at Young Indian Culture Group in Long Island, NY. Having been teaching since 2004, Sejal has inspired countless youngsters to find a true appreciation for classical Indian rhythm. And as a member of the Middle Eastern Sephardic music band Divahn, Sejal has traveled throughout the country spreading the art of tabla to non-Indian audiences.
Megan Gould (violin, kamanche, background vocals)\
Megan Gould is one of NYC's most versatile performers of Middle Eastern, Greek and popular music. Her comfort within a wide range of styles, her responsiveness to other musicians onstage, and a soulful improvisational style make Megan a sought-after element in many diverse musical projects. Since completing a Master's Degree in Ethnomusicology (with a concentration on the Middle East) from the University of London, she has performed around the world in locations as far-flung as Paris, London, Budapest, Copenhagen, Saudi Arabia and Dubai, and has toured extensively throughout the US, appearing at venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center and SF Jazz. She has performed onstage with popular artists such as David Byrne, Natalie Merchant and John Mellencamp, and her work has appeared on recordings and film soundtracks for numerous artists including Lou Reed, Philip Glass and Metallica. While taking on a significant amount of freelance work, her ongoing positions outside Divahn include Assistant Music Director of the NY Arabic Orchestra under Lebanese master musician Bassam Saba, a violinist in Natalie Merchant’s touring ensemble, violinist and baglama player in the popular Greek ensemble Mikrokosmos, and a full-time member of the National Arabic Orchestra in Detroit, Michigan. www.megangouldmusic.com