Raheleh Filsoofi and Reza Filsoofi presented a collaborative sound performance titled *Listening: The Fourth String* at the Ismaili Center in Houston on April 11, 2026, alongside a participatory installation of the *ShahTár* (شهتار), a large Persian rug fitted with two four-string instruments. The performance featured Houston musicians Will Adams, Tom Carter, Parham Daighighi, Laura Dykes, Ruthie Langston, Gabriel Martinez, and Firuz Shukrikhudoev, blending improvisational music, poetry, and vocals. Audience members were invited to touch their own bodies and eventually join the stage, fostering an immersive, embodied experience.
The work matters because it uses deep listening and relational aesthetics to bridge religious divides and counter xenophobia, drawing on Pauline Oliveros's theories of empathy through sound. By destabilizing perceptual borders between self and other, Filsoofi's project offers a timely model for intercultural connection in a polarized world, emphasizing harmony and dissonance as tools for building community across sectarian lines.