Voices of the Motherland: Iranian Folk and Traditional Music

10528 Armstrong Avenue,Rancho Cordova CA 95655

22 October, 2022

Description

Music is an important element of a nation's cultural identity as well as an integral part of understanding the history and culture of the people of a region. AFRA Ensemble led by maestro Hossein Behrouzinia consists of musicians who have dedicated their lives to introducing the richness of Iranian traditional and folk music to the world. This concert features the richness and color inherent in Iranian classical music as well as music from Lorestan and Mazandaran. AFRA ensemble is featuring Hossein Behrouzinia on Oud, Faraj Alipour on Vocals and kamancheh, Malihe Moradi on Vocals, Fahime Mousavi on Vocals, Hamid Behrouzinia on Tar, Ehsan Matoori on Santoor, and Nariman Assadi on percussion. The concert will begin at 6:30 pm, but doors will open at 6 pm. Tickets are available on Eventbrite and by contacting Nariman Assadi (530-574-4636 or [email protected]) First Part: 50 mins, music from Mazandaran and Traditional Music Intermission: 20mins Second Part: 50mins, Music from Lorestan and more...! About the Artists Hossein Behrouzinia Hossein Behroozinia is a renowned Iranian oud player and arguably the greatest oud player of all times. He studied oud, playing under the supervision of maestro Mansour Nariman. Behrooznia also learnt the Radif under the supervision of the legendary Mohammad Reza Lotfi. He was a student at the Conservatory of Persian music, and later the music Director of Ensemble Khaleghi as well as the Director of music Education at the Center of the Preservation Persian music. The L.A. Times describes maestro Behroozinia's work as "spectacular musicianship". [1] In 2003 the Ministry of Culture of Iran decorated him with its highest honor, the "First Order of Arts". Hossein Behroozinia was born on June 11, 1962 in Tehran, Iran with a heart and soul for music. At the early age of nine he was accepted into Tehran's Conservatory of Music, where the roots of his love for the Tar, under the supervision of Reza Vohdaney, and the Oud under the guidance of Mansour Nariman, germinated. Soon, eagerness and aptitude awarded him the chance to advance his cultivation by being introduced to the Persian radif (repertoire) of Mirza Abdullah by the famed Mohammad Reza Lotfi. Behroozinia's blossoming talent became apparent immediately, so much so, that even as a young man, seventeen, he was asked to instruct at the prestigious Centre of Preservation and Propagation of Music, where he flourished. Opportunities and advancements promptly ensued and he humbly accepted the position of Director of Music Production, followed by Director of Music Education, which evolved into Chairman of the Board. Even though demands on his time were vast, Behroozinia never forgot the joy of learning and offered to teach the ancient lute at Tehran's Conservatory to enthusiastic apprentices. To this day, and still handcuffed by a demanding schedule, he opens his doors to the hopes of other young protégés. His chronology not only embraces the educational aspect of the art for as well he has traveled intensely throughout Europe, Asia, and North America performing numerous sold out concerts before enthralled audience with various prominent music ensembles including the artistic Ensemble Aref and the brilliant Ensemble Mowlana. Since 1992, Behroozinia exclusively lends his talents, as one of its leading members, to the gifted Dastan Ensemble. Fortune bestowed upon him the privilege to collaborate with many of the eminent voices of our legacy, the likes of, Mohammad Reza Shajarian, Shahram Nazeri, Parisa, Sima Bina, Iraj Bastami and Ali-Reza Eftekhari. Integrated amongst the aforementioned accomplishments are publications of two etudes for the Barbat and numerous recorded works encompassing: Barbat, Kouhestan, Yadestan, Vajd, Dastan Trio and scores of accompaniments on: Bamdad, Booy-e-Norouz, Ofogh-e-Mehr, Sarv-e-Simin, Sfar Be digar Sou, Saz-e-Nou Avaz-e-Nou, Hanaee, Shab Sokoot Kavir, Shourideh and Gol-e Behehsht. Countless distinguished members of our cultural society regard Behroozinia as a leading figure in the preservation of Iran’s traditional music. Consequentially in 2003 the Ministry of Culture decorated him with its highest honor, the “First Order of Arts”. Faraj Alipour Faraj Alipour was born in 1959/12/12, he is singer, composer and musician of kamancheh(violin-like instrument resting on the ground during performance)and also is one of the great Iranian musicians who attained prime level in equivalent music by the Guidance Department of Iran. His style of playing was such that all the youth of the country became interested in it and this instrument became popular among the youth again as well, Faraj Alipour has a special skill in improvisation and Few people benefit from this feature and are able to Create the purest music. Faraj Alipoor learned kamancheh spontaneously(self-teacher) and at the age of 14 he cooperated professionally with famous musicians (executant) of those years. - His cooperation with grandee such as: Reza Saghaei, Fereydoon Shahbazian, Ardeshir Kamkar, Kamkars, Jamshid Azizkhani, Mohammad Malek Massoudi, Jalil Andalibi, Shaho Andalibi, Shahriar Faryousfi, Ali Akbar Shekarchii, Tahmoreth Pournazeri, Shah Mirza Moradi, Hadi Montazeri, Mousavi, Nasser Farhang Far, Gholamreza Sabzali, and Iraj Rahmanpour. Following these years, albums such as Tal, Shadyaneh, Chopi, Moosighi Mahali, tofang, Dalke,Daghe Shaghayegh, Mirase Eshgh,Eshghe To, Ghasam, Aftotalaie, Yafte , Dar Sooge Aftaab, kolenja Zard, Shoone Shaki, Ayene Ashk, Harfe Del, Ghadim Sayaad, Azizdel, Shosal, Gol Baghi. Farajollah Alipour, who is known as Faraj Alipour, is currently a member of the Institute of Veteran Artists and is teaching and recording various music in Tehran and Lorestan. Malihe Moradi Trained by three of the most eminent Persian vocalists, Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, Fatemeh Vaezi (Parisa) and Ali Asghar Shahzeidi, Maliheh Moradi has attracted attention as a rising star in Persian classical music. Born to a musical family in 1984, Maliheh began playing tonbak at the age of seven and started singing lessons with her father. She attended the Tehran Conservatory of Music, where she also learned setar. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Persian literature. Maliheh has received training in both vocal and instrumental music from renowned Persian musicians including Siamak Jahangiri, Hossein Alizadeh, Mozafar Shafiei, Hasan Pazouki, Mohammad Firouzi, Mohammad-Reza Ebrahimi and Masoud Shoari. Maliheh has sung in the Mowlavi Opera (along with Homayoun Shajarian), Singing in Shadow (accompanied by Siamak Jahangiri) and Atash Sabz (film score composed by Mohammad-Reza Darvishi). She has performed at international music festivals in Australia, Spain, Germany and Poland. www.malihehmoradi.com Fahimeh Mousavi Fahimeh Mousavi was born on May 26, 1986 in Amol, Mazandaran province, Iran. In her early teenage ages, she became interested in Iranian classical music and started to take vocal lessons with Maestro Gholamreza Rezaei. After a few years, she found her took lessons in vocal from Maestro Ms. Parisa, one of the most reputable and well-known singer of Iranian classical music. She also have been active in the field of Mazandaran's folk music, where she was born, and took lessons of old folk songs from prominent vocalists of this province, namely Maestro Noorollah Alizadeh and Maestro Abol-hasan Khoshrou. She also performed and recorded a few performances with Maestro Hossein Behroozinia. Fahimeh Mousavi is currently studying towards an associate degree in Iranian classical vocal. Hamid Behrouzinia Hamid Behrouzinia started Tar training from age 8 under mentor of his uncle “Hossein Behrouzinia” And his training continued by Mohammad Reza Ebrahimi. Then he entered the Conservatory of Music therefore he could train under mentor of popular teachers such as Mr. Hamid Shojaee and Mohammad Reza Ebrahimi. After his graduation that he developed his Tar trainig by Houshang Zarif, Arshad tahmasebi and Dariush Pirniakan. And also learned Tombak under mentor of Siamak Banayi. Behrouzinia not only won second place of Iran Music Festival in 1995, but also won the first place of the Iran Music Festival in Solo in 1996. The past years he has worked as a musician and composer in many concerts in Iran, Asia, Europe and Canada with youth groups, Akhavan, Tolou, Salk, Qalandar, chopi, Khonia, Taal, Ghamar and Lotus. He has been the director and composer of Lotus Band. He as a supervisor performed a concert with ‘Tolou Band’ in Dubai in 2002 and he had a tour concert in Europe with ‘Khonia Band’ as a composer in 2005 and he performed in Germany, France, Swiss and Netherlands which the most important one was the performance in UNESCO Summit Hall. Then he performed some concerts and held some classes in Vancouver, Canada in 2007 and he released the album ‘ Child of Iran’ by Sina Sarlak in 2009 and this album was chosen by Music House as the candidate of the best musical album in 2010. After that he had some concerts with Avang Band in Russia and Denmark. Ehsan Matoori Born in 1979 in Iran, Ehsan Matoori began learning Santoor (Persian-dulcimer) based on Maestro Faramarz Payvar’s method at age 9. He studied instrumental and vocal Radif (Persian musical repertory) with Parviz Meshkatian and Pashang Kamkar and later started teaching Santoor. Ehsan took lessons from Ardavan Kamkar, one of the greatest contemporary Santoor players of Iran known for his distinct playing style and tuning techniques. In addition to playing Santoor, Ehsan has studied music composition and harmony with Farhad Fakhroaldini and children's music with Soudabeh Salem. After moving to the United States in 2013, Ehsan performed with world music masters such as Sandeep Das (tabla), Jamal Mohamed (percussionist), Paul Sriji (mridangam), Maeve Gilchrist (jazz harp), Matthew Coley (marimba), Mike Block (cello), Bassam Saba (oud), Sybarite5 (string quintet) and Greg Ellis (percussionist). He has also been a member of SMU world music ensemble since 2013 and a member of the Silk Road Global Musicians Workshop as a faculty assistant and performer since 2016. His rst album “Phantasm” in collaboration with Mohsen Namjoo was published in 2019 and streamed more than 1,000,000 times and downloaded on all digital platforms. His love of learning about cultures and feeling their melodies, has inspired his musical compositions which represent these cultures and bring new words to the world. Exploring diverse musical and poetic traditions around the world, Matoori has recently been working on a multilingual project called “The Voices and Bridges” which was announced by the BBC world, BBC Persian and the Silk Road Project in July 2019 and July 2020. Ehsan believes that his music “should bring happiness to people and bring people together.” www.ehsanmatoori.com Nariman Assadi Nariman Assadi was born in Hamedan, Iran on January 1, 1992. Raised in Tehran, he always felt drawn to percussion instruments. At the age of thirteen, he began studying Tombak under Master Amir Mogharab Samadi. From 2008 to 2013, Nariman performed at Vahdat Hall as a soloist and with the Persian Percussion Ensemble at Pars Academy, the premier music academy for children. After mastering Tombak, he then began learning Daf under the great Master Bijan Kamkar. With a strong understanding of the Daf and Tombak, Nariman started learning Barbat (Oud) under Master Mohammad Firouzi. In 2015, Nariman immigrated to the United States. He immediately began his professional music career by performing and attending festivals. In 2017, he started learning percussion performance and world music with Professor Daniel Kennedy at Sacramento State University. Along with being a member of various ensembles, Nariman also teaches Daf, Tombak, and Music for children. www.narimanpercussion.com