Article in Persian and link to audio segment
by Iraj Adibzadeh, RadioZamaneh.com, November 2006

The Sound of Music: Monika Jalili and NoorSaaz's Remembrance of Things Past....
Darius Kadivar, July 5, 2006

Persian Music Maestros to be Honored at The 2nd Persian Golden Lioness Awards in Budapest, Hungary

The World Academy of Arts, Literature, and Media - WAALM is proud to announce that this years recipient awardess will pay tribute to three generations of musicians whose work is a source of continued inspiration and admiration.

*** Monika Jalili - Award of Excellence in MUSIC Category (Classic Music Best Soprano Performer) ***

"She is certainly THE music revelation of this year in the Iranian community abroad. Born in New York City, Monika Jalili is a fresh addition to the world music scene. Having married an Iranian, this New Yorker was immersed in Persian music, and eventually decided to take her passion seriously. With her debut CD entitled "NoorSaaz", Monika and her music group have managed to capture the minds of young and old and to bridge the gaps of culture, language and sound for so many music lovers. " - Darius KADIVAR

--payvand.com May 2006

A good sermon? A sublime Trinity Choir piece? Trinity Grants guidelines? Nope. It's the music from pre-Revolutionary Iran.

The October Concerts at One performance by Monika Jalili and Noorsaaz has been requested more than 35,000 times. The number is steadily climbing. With the online telecast, the parish is drawing viewers from an unlikely place: more than 5 percent of site traffic has come from Iran since the concert aired.

Meanwhile, e-mail messages thanking the parish for airing the concert are flooding parish accounts. Use the "Share Your Thoughts" link to tell us your thoughts.

(Update to the article: As of December 21, the concert had been viewed 150,000 times.)

-Nathan Brockman, Manager, Website & Parish Publications Trinity Church at Wall Street

"Prior to the 1979 revolution, Iranians were not listening to Persian hip-hop, but rather traditional tunes and love songs. Preserving a slice of this pre-revolutionary history is Monika Jalili. Her self-released album NoorSaaz (a combination of the Farsi words for "light" and "creator" or "musical instrument") includes 10 songs (totaling just over 40 minutes of music).......incorporating her strong, crisp, almost operatic voice with violin, oud, guitar, and percussion. A fine Persian diversion."

-- Spin the Globe Reviews and News December 2005

"With her debut CD entitled "Noor Saaz", Monika and her music group have managed to capture the minds of young and old and to bridge the gaps of culture, language and sound for so many music lovers. An amazingly well-recorded and beautifully sung set of songs..." -- Persian Mirror December 2005