January 2, 2001 Summary Facts:
Making its first North American tour, Masters of Persian Music will perform an evening of Iranian classical music on Sunday, February 4 at 8 p.m. in UCSB Campbell Hall. Arranged by the World Music Institute in New York City and presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures, this rare event features Iranian music superstars Mohammad Reza Shajarian, Iran’s most renowned classical vocalist; Hossein Alizadeh on tar (lute); and Kayhan Kalhor on kamancheh (spike fiddle). The trio will be accompanied on tombak (percussion) and vocals by Homayoun Shajarian. To enhance audience appreciation of the concert, Arts & Lectures has arranged a pre-concert lecture titled “An Introduction to Persian Classical Music” at 7 p.m. by Scott Marcus, ethnomusicologist, head of UCSB’s Middle East Ensemble and Associate Professor of Music. The undisputed master of classical Iranian singing, M.R. Shajarian received UNESCO’s prestigious Picasso Award in 1998. His warm vocal style, superb technical skill and vast knowledge of classical Iranian repertoire, particularly of ancient Sufi poetry, and ubiquitous performances on radio, television and in huge concerts have made him the most successful classical singer in the country. Shajarian, who comes from a long musical lineage, began his singing career at age 18 on a hometown radio station and moved to Tehran eight years later where he performed regularly on Iranian Radio until 1986. Following appearances on national television in the 1970s, his became a household name. But it was the musical renaissance that followed the 1979 Revolution that solidified his position as the foremost musician of Iranian classical music. He can be heard on numerous recordings including, most recently the Traditional Crossroads Records release Night Silence Desert with Kayhan Kalhor. Kalhor was a child prodigy on kamancheh. By age 13, he was invited to work in the National Orchestra of Radio and Television of Iran where he performed for five years and was given the National Music Award two years in a row. While Shajarian is relatively little-known outside his homeland, Kalhor has developed as strong a reputation in the West as half the duo Ghazal with Indian sitar player Shujaat Khan. He has also performed as part of the Dastan Ensemble which won first prize at the Sacred Music Festival in Fez, Morocco in 1991 and in collaborations with U.S. artists that include composing and performing with the Kronos Quartet in 1999. As part of Yo Yo Ma’s “Silk Road Project,” Kalhor will perform with the cellist and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall this March music for kamancheh and cello by Richard Danielpour. Kalhor developed his expansive knowledge of music by studying Persian music theory (radif) with masters of the music of different regions throughout Iran; the Kurdish folk music repertoire, which he considers his specialty, in Kermanshah in Western Iran; and Western classical music at the Santa Sicilia School of Music in Rome and Carlton College in Ottawa, Canada. His recent solo concerts have included performances at the Smithsonian Institution and London’s Royal Albert Hall. A master lutist, Hossein Alizadeh was born in Tehran and, after graduating from the Music Conservatory, he entered the School of Music of the University of Tehran where he received his bachelor’s degree in composition and performance. From such masters as Houshang Zarif, Ali Akbar Shahnazi, Nur Ali Borumond and Mahmood Karimi he learned the radif of Persian classical music, and in the 1980s he studied composition and musicology at the University of Berlin. He was awarded a position with the National Orchestra of Iran and later became the conductor and soloist of the Iranian National Orchestra of Radio and Television. Alizadeh founded the Aref Ensemble and performed with the Shayda Ensemble, both dedicated to the promotion and advancement of Persian classical music. He has participated in the orchestra of the Bejart Ballet Company. He has composed many works in the Persian classical tradition and has recorded the entire body of the radif based on interpretations by Mirza Abdullah. He has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia and has taught at the University of Tehran, the Tehran Music Conservatory and, in 1994, was a visiting professor at UCLA. Homayoun Shajarian, son of Mohammad Reza Shajarian, began playing tombak at age five. The following year, he began studying under percussion masters Masser Frahangfar and Jamshid Mohebbi, and later attended the School of Art in Tehran. In addition to tombak, he plays kamancheh, viola and piano and studies the vocal tradition of his father. Since 1991, he has performed with many ensembles accompanying his father in Europe, Iran and North America. The Masters of Persian Music tour includes a performance on Saturday, February 3 at USC’s Bovard Auditorium as well as concerts in New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, Atlanta, Toronto, Vancouver and other cities. Presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures, this event is sponsored by the Center for Middle East Studies and Friends of Middle Eastern Music Association. For tickets or more information, Editor: For photos, please call |