Ottawa musicians launch AZADI album on freedom and human rights

Two Ottawa-raised artists, pianist-composer Mary Dawood Catlin and conductor-composer Nadeem Majdalany, have teamed up on AZADI Songs of Freedom, a new classical album built around human rights and artistic resistance. The project is now streaming worldwide and brings together musicians and activists from several countries, including contributors with direct experience of repression.

Why it matters: - AZADI Songs of Freedom turns a classical album into a public statement about freedom of expression, human dignity, and resistance to repression. - The project also spotlights artists who have lived through government violence, torture, and other forms of abuse, giving the album a direct political and human rights dimension. - The release adds another cross-border collaboration to the growing overlap between classical music, advocacy, and contemporary storytelling.

What happened: - Mary Dawood Catlin and Nadeem Majdalany, both raised in Ottawa, Ontario, collaborated on AZADI Songs of Freedom after meeting through the Recording Academy in Los Angeles in February 2026. - The album is now available on streaming platforms worldwide. - AZADI, which means “freedom” in Farsi, brings together artists from Canada, the U.S., Iran, Chile, Portugal, and India. - The project pairs contemporary classical writing with Persian musical influences.

The details: - The album includes five works built around piano, strings, soprano, percussion, prepared piano, programming, and sound design. - Catlin performs piano and composed “Free Cypress, Bird of Dawn” and “An Elegy for Yesterday.” - Iranian human rights activist and composer Mehdi Rajabian composed “Winds, Wounds & Silent Names” and “Where Sorrow Dances.” - Catlin, Rajabian, Majdalany, and Portugal-based artist Lazuli co-composed “The Horizon Bore Witness.” - Majdalany used antique munitions from wars of the 20th century as percussion instruments and described the choice by saying, “I turned instruments of death into instruments of beauty.” - Primary artists include Catlin, Majdalany, and Rajabian. - Featured performers include Michelle Wade Jones on violin, Peter Jacobson on cello, Michael T. Geib on double bass, Diana Di Mauro on mezzo-soprano, Lazuli on programming and sound design, and Fierra Ex Machina on percussion. - The album was produced by Mary Dawood Catlin, Todd Catlin, Majdalany, and Rajabian. - Todd Catlin, Majdalany, Gemma Castro, and Gerald Jones handled recording engineering. - Cristóbal “Tibo” Gajardo and Bryard Huggins handled editing engineering. - “Tibo” Gajardo, Ashish Manchanda, and Bryard Huggins handled mixing, with Gajardo also credited for mastering. - Blake Dimas, Emily Palman, Nathan Wolfe, Ignacio Yañez, and Ekaa Sood served as assistant engineers. - VaiBionic created the cover illustration and directed the album artwork with Mary Dawood Catlin, Majdalany, Todd Catlin, and Rajabian. - Mary Dawood Catlin handled booklet and liner notes graphic design and wrote the poems “Their Souls Whispered Freedom” and “We Shall Rise.” - The Bösendorfer piano used by Catlin was tuned by Jared Morvant.

Between the lines: - The Ottawa connection gives the project a personal origin story, but the album’s message is global and explicitly rooted in human rights. - The use of wartime metal as percussion underscores the album’s attempt to transform symbols of violence into art. - The project’s mix of Grammy-recognized artists, activists, and survivors suggests the album is meant to function as both music and testimony.

What's next: - AZADI Songs of Freedom will likely live primarily through streaming and audience discovery across global platforms. - The album’s collaborators are positioning the project as an ongoing artistic declaration for liberty rather than a one-off release.

The bottom line: - AZADI Songs of Freedom is a classical music release with an activist mission: use art to argue that freedom, speech, and self-determination are basic human rights.