NOWRUZ CONCERT
On March 10th The Iranshahr Orchestra will celebrate Nowruz new year at Royce Hall UCLA
On March 10, the Iranshahr Orchestra, conducted by Shahab Paranj, will share the stage with acclaimed Iranian musicians Tahmoures Pournazeri, Sohrab Pournazeri, and Sahar Boroujerdi, accompanied by the remarkable American soprano Hila Plitmann, who sings in Persian. The performance, dedicated to celebrating the Iranian New Year, Nowruz, will showcase a diverse selection of pieces by Iranian composers. The program unfolds in two parts: the first highlights compositions by Ahmad Pejman, Richard Danielpour, Reza Vali, Shahab Paranj, featuring extraordinary Iranian musicians and the exceptional American soprano. In the second part, Iranian masters will take center stage, delivering a captivating performance of pure Iranian classical music.
Conductor:
Shahab Paranj
Featuring Soloists:
Tahmoures Pournazeri
Sohrab Pournazeri
Singers:
Hila Plitmann
Sahar Boroujerdi
Compositions by:
Ahmad Pejman
Richard Danielpour
Reza Vali
Shahab Paranj
Program
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Songs of Love and Loss by Richard Danielpour. Soprano: Hila Plitmann
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Divertimento by Ahmad Pejman
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One Thousand and One Nights Soloist: Tahmoures Pournazeri
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Choopi by Shahab Paranj. Soloist: Sohrab Pournazeri
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"Chārsegāh" Kamancheh Concerto by Reza Vali. Soloist: Sohrab Pournazeri (World Premiere and commissioned by The Iranshahr Orchestra)
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Iran. Singer Sahar Boroujerdi
During the concert, Maestro Ahmad Pejman will be honored with The Iranshahr Orchestra Recognition Award
Shahab Paranj
Winner of the 2024 Hoefer Prize, Composer, Conductor, Instrumentalist, and Educator Shahab Paranj, an Iranian-born composer, holds degrees in music composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and the University of California, Los Angeles. He is considered one of the pioneers among his generation of Iranian composers whose composition style integrates Persian and Western composition techniques. Known as a tombak virtuoso, he has performed, recorded, and collaborated with some of the most celebrated artists worldwide. Acclaimed by the San Francisco Examiner as “impressive” and by composer John Adams as “unique voice,” Paranj blends Persian rhythmic and melodic influences with Western texture and form in his composition. Recent commissions include works for ensembles such as the Russian String Orchestra, Intersection Contemporary Music Ensemble, Long Beach Opera, Jâca Duo, Aleron Trio, San
Francisco New Music Ensemble, One Great City Duo, MSM Symphony Orchestra, and international Low Brass Trio. Additionally, he has composed an original score for the movie "Dressage," which won the 2018 feature film (generation category) at the Berlin Film Festival. As a scholar, his main research focus lies in the Iranian Avazi Style, and he has presented on this
topic in various seminars, including the SEM, AMS, and SMT 2022 joint annual meeting. He has received formal recognition from the Mehr Humanitarian Society (2010) and the City and County of San Francisco (2011). Paranj is a founder and music director of The Iranshahr Orchestra and the artistic director of “du vert à l’infini,” a contemporary music festival in the Franche-Comte region of France. He currently serves as a faculty member at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.
Sohrab Pournazeri
Sohrab Pournazeri, virtuoso of tanbour, kamancheh, and setar, is one of the pioneers of performing Iranian contemporary music. His father Kaykhosro Pournazeri who started Shams Ensemble in 1980 is one of the respected
composers and tanour player in Iran, Sohrab joined Shams Ensemble at the age of twelve, and since then, he has been performing, recording, and collaborating with many world-class musicians worldwide. As a composer, he has composed for great Iranian singers such as Mohammad Reza Shajarian, Homayoun Shajarian, Alireza Ghorbani, and many more.
His “30 Project” and 300 in Tehran’s historical Saadābād Palace complex were
the most significant multi-media projects over the past forty years in Iran. In 2023, Sohrab was featured as a soloist in the inaugural concert of the Iranshahr Orchestra in Los Angeles, sharing the stage with Hila Plitman.
Tahmoures Pournazeri
He has collaborated with artists such as Joan Baez, Shujaat Hussain Khan, and the esteemed master Mohammad Reza Shajarian. With a musical journey that spans across various genres, he has composed for fifteen albums. Notably, he participated in the Avignon Festival at the age of 15, achieved first honors among Young Iranian Talents at age 14, and began performing with the Shams Ensemble at Iran’s renowned concert halls from the age of 12. Born in February 1977 into the musical Pournazeri family, Tahmoures' profound connection with music is a natural outcome of his upbringing. Together with his father Kaykhosro and his brother Sohrab, Tahmoures leads and directs the Shams Ensemble, widely recognized as one of Iran’s foremost musical groups. Proficient in playing all major Iranian instruments, he especially focuses on the Tar, Setar, Tanbur, Barbat, and Daf. Additionally, Tahmoures has experimented with and composed for new instruments designed by Mohammad Reza Shajarian. His compositions extend across mystical music, modern Iranian classical music, Kurdish music, symphonic orchestral music, and modern fusion. His expertise also extends to the field of music recording. Tahmoures' collaboration with the celebrated Iranian singer Homayoun Shajarian resulted in a best-selling album titled ‘Beyond Any Form’ and the highest-grossing concert tour in the history of Iranian music, attracting a total audience of over 120,000. The album features Sohrab Pournazeri on the Kamancheh, American composer David K. Garner, Indian Sitar virtuoso Shujaat Khan, Venezuelan flutist Pedro Eustache, and American blues guitarist Jimmy Johnson.
Hila Plitmann
Glittering jewel on the international music scene, Grammy Award-winning soprano Hila Plitmann is known worldwide for her astonishing musicianship, light and beautiful voice, and the ability to perform challenging new works. She has been described by The New York Times as possessing a “radiant sound, even during passages of sky-high vocal writing.” Plitmann regularly premieres works by today’s leading composers while maintaining a vibrant and extraordinarily diverse professional life in film music, musical theater, and song writing. Described as a performer with “tremendous vocal and physical grace,” and “a vocal instrument that is simply unreal in its beauty,” Plitmann has appeared as a headliner with numerous ensembles in the U.S. and abroad, such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Nashville Symphony Orchestra, and she has worked with many of today’s leading conductors, including Leonard Slatkin, Kurt Masur, Robert Spano, Marin Alsop, Esa Pekka Salonen, Andrew Litton, Giancarlo Guerrero, Steven Sloane, and Carl St. Clair
Sahar Boroujerdi
Sahar Boroujerdi Mohammadi, born in 1988 in Tehran, Iran, is an esteemed Iranian traditional vocalist. Her musical journey began at the age of 15 when she immersed herself in the art of "Setar," eventually venturing into singing a few years later. Under the guidance of revered masters such as Kaykhosro Pourazeri, Afsaneh Rasayi, and Hamidreza Nourbakhsh since 2008, Sahar mastered the Tar with Arshad Tahmasbi, and the Setar with Mohammadreza Lotfi and Masoud Shoari. Earning acclaim as "one of the youngest and most talented vocalists of Iranian traditional music," Sahar captivates audiences with her commanding vocal presence, infusing stages with both elegance and simplicity. Sahar's extensive repertoire includes performances in renowned musical theaters, puppet operas, and distinguished documentaries. Notably, she played a role in the sorrowful letter of Fereydoon alongside Hossein Alizadeh and contributed to numerous productions at Theatre de la Ville in Paris. Sahar featured in a Spanish documentary with Aghmond and collaborated with Mah Banoo Band, contributing to the music soundtrack composed by Behzad Abdi and Mahyar Alizadeh. Her rendition of "the song of the women" garnered attention in France. Having graced Theatre de la Ville (2019, 2021) and performed at prestigious music festivals worldwide, including Bozar Music Festival (2019) and FEZ Music Festival, Sahar's recent outstanding concert at Berlin's Pierre Boulez Saal showcased pieces composed by Kaykhosro and Sohrab Pournazeri. This concert, known as the "Afsaneh Concert," is set to enthrall audiences again in September 2022 at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, UK, featuring a new set of mesmerizing songs that left a lasting impact on the London audience.
Richard Danielpour
Grammy-Award winning composer Richard Danielpour has established himself as one of the most gifted and sought-after composers of his generation. His music has attracted an international and illustrious array of champions, and, as a devoted mentor and educator, he has also had a significant impact on the younger generation of composers. His list of commissions include some of the most celebrated artists of our day including Yo-Yo Ma, Jessye Norman, Dawn Upshaw, Susan Graham, Emanuel Ax, Gil Shaham, Frederica von Stade, Thomas Hampson, Gary Graffman, Anthony McGill, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, the Guarneri and Emerson String Quartets, the New York City, Pacific Northwest and Nashville Ballets, and institutions such as the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Maryinsky and Vienna Chamber Orchestras, Orchestre National de France, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and many more. With Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, Danielpour created Margaret Garner, his first opera, which premiered in 2005 and had a second production with New York City Opera. He has received two awards from the American Academy and Institute of Arts & Letters, a Guggenheim Award, the Bearns Prize from Columbia University, two Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships, and The Berlin Prize from the American Academy in Berlin. He served on the composition faculty of Manhattan School of Music from 1993 to 2017. Danielpour recently relocated to Los Angeles, where he has accepted the position of Professor of Music at the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA. He is also a member of the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music where he has taught since 1997.
Reza Vali
Professor of composition at the Carnegie Mellon University
Iranian Composer Reza Vali is known as the “Persian Bartók,” given that he combines traditional work with modern compositional techniques. He has received numerous honors and commissions, and his music has been performed worldwide and is recorded on the Naxos, New Albion, MMC, Ambassador, Albany, and ABC Classics labels.
Mr. Vali has been a faculty member of the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon University since 1988. He has received numerous honors and commissions, including the honor prize of the Austrian Ministry of Arts and Sciences, two Andrew W. Mellon Fellowships, commissions from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Kronos Quartet, the Carpe Diem String Quartet, the Seattle Chamber Players, and the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, as well as grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Pittsburgh Foundation, and the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education. He was selected by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust as the Outstanding Emerging Artist for which he received the Creative Achievement Award. Vali's orchestral compositions have been performed in the United States by the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Baltimore Symphony, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra 2001. His chamber works have received performances by Cuarteto Latinoamericano, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Carpe Diem String Quartet, Kronos Quartet, the Seattle Chamber Players, and the Da Capo Chamber Players.
Ahmad Pejman
Ahmad Pejman (born July 9,1935) is an Iranian contemporary classical music composer. Born in the city of Lar, in the province of Fars, he was exposed to the rhythms and melodies of the south from early childhood. As a teenager in Tehran, he became interested in classical music and studied violin under Heshmat Sanjari and music theory with Hossein Nasehi. While completing his bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Daneshsaraye-Ali (Teacher Training College), he played the violin in various orchestras, including Tehran Symphony Orchestra. During that time, his early compositions were performed and broadcasted on national television. In 1963, he was given a scholarship to study music composition at the Vienna Music Academy in Austria. He studied with Thomas Christian David, Alfred Uhl and Hanns Jelinik. As a student, his compositions were performed by the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and his symphonic work Rhapsody was performed by the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Before graduating from the Academy, Pejman was commissioned to write the first Persian Opera, The Rustic Festival, for the opening of the Rudaki Hall in Tehran in 1967. Pejman returned to Iran in 1968 and soon became one of the most prolific classical music composers in the country, writing operas, The Hero of Sahand (1968), Samandar (1970), symphonic works, ballets and choir, including The illumination (1969), Ballet Impression (1973), Ayyaran (1974), Symphonic Sketches (1975), Hemmaseh (1976), children music, chamber music and he also started his long collaboration with filmmaker Bahman Farmanara, writing film music for Shazdeh Ehtejab (1974) and The Tall Shadows of the Wind (1979). He also wrote the music for David Frost’s 5 part television series, Crossroads of Civilization for BBC television in 1979. While completing his doctorate studies at Columbia University in New York, the Iranian Revolution took place. He moved to Los Angeles in 1984 and continued with his work by arranging music for various artists. In 1992 Pejman returned to Iran and started composing for the orchestra, choir and the symphony, Khorramshahr (1992), Mokhtar (1993) The Seven Hurdles of Rostam (1996), writing film music for various filmmakers including Mohsen Makhmalbaaf, Majid Majidi, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, and Bahman Farmanara. In 2007 Pejman wrote the Oratorio Resurrection (on poems by Ferdowsi, Hefiz, Mowlana, Khajeh Abdollah Ansari) with Mosfilm Orchestra and Moscow Academy choir. His other notable works include Hameh Shahr Iran (folkloric Iranian songs for children 1995) Shadows of the Sun (2010), Norooz Symphony (2011) Divertimento (4 movements for String Orchestra 2016) Parsava (5 movements for solo piano 2016). The Land of the Brave (for choir and orchestra 2017) Pejman is currently completing an album on the poems of Sohrab Sepehri. Pejman’s compositions have been performed internationally in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France and the United Kingdom. Pejman has received numerous national and international awards including two Crystal Simorgh Awards for the music to Majid Majidi’s Baran and Bahman Farmanara’s The Scent of Camphor, the Fragrance of Jasmin. He was named the most important composer of the 20th Century by the House of Cinema. A commemorative stamp was issued in Pejman’s honor in 2017.
David Garner
Drawing from classical, neoclassical, jazz, rock, blues and non-Western traditions, the music of David Garner (b.1954) reflects a unique blend of musical genres. An alumnus and full professor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Garner has taught composition, chamber music, music literature and music theory there since 1979. In 2007 he co-founded the award-winning Ensemble for These Times, which continues to gain recognition for innovative and original programming and recording. Trained as a pianist and cellist, he has performed on both the solo classical concert stage and in various jazz/rock fusion and blues bands. A composition autodidact, Garner won the 2014 and 2015 American Prize in Composition and has been awarded the prestigious 2023 Hoefer Prize. His recorded works have won several Global Music Awards. Garner’s works are recorded on Pentatone and Centaur Records and are featured online at 3232 Music. Numerous live performances of his works are available on YouTube.
Aftab Darvishi
Born in Tehran in 1987, Afta Darvishi is a composer who displays a passion for transcending musical boundaries across concert, film, and theater. The journey began with the Violin at age 5, extending to instruments like the Kamancheh and Piano. Graduating with honors in Music Performance from the University of Tehran in 2010, a Master’s in Composing for Film from the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam in 2012 was achieved, delving into Karnatic music with Rafael Reina. Further studies under Martijn Padding and Yannis Kyriakides at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague led to global presentations and collaborations with esteemed ensembles like Kronos Quartet and Orkest De Ereprijs. Recognition came with the Tenso Young Composers Award in 2016, and extensive collaboration with the Grammy-winning Kronos Quartet since 2017. The opera "Turan Dokht" premiered at Holland Festival in 2019. In July 2022, Afta Darvishi released her debut album, "A Thousand Butterflies," reflecting on an 11-year journey as a composer, spanning continents and styles. Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in composition at the University of Birmingham, exploration of new horizons in music continues