Classical Persian Music and Despotism

Date
Fri January 8th 2010, 12:00pm
Event Sponsor
Iranian Studies Program
Location
Levinthal Hall, Stanford Humanities Center
Classical Persian Music and Despotism
Speaker(s):
Mohsen Namjoo

Mohsen Namjoo, Visiting Scholar for Stanford Humanities Center and the Iranian Studies Program

Mohsen Namjoo is an Iranian artist, songwriter, singer, music scholar, setar player (traditional persian lute) and, last but not least, one of the most groundbreaking artists in persian music today, nicknamed the "Bob Dylan of Iran". Namjoo was born in 1976 in Torbat-e Jam, Iran and began his musical training at the age of 12, studying under Nasrollah Nasehpoor until the age of 18. In 1994 he was offered admission to study Theater and Music at University of Tehran. Since the music program at the university wouldn't start for another year he first joined the theater course, where he learnt how to connect with an audience. At Tehran University he was a student of Alireza Mashayekhi, Azin Movahed and other masters. Namjoo has also studied Iranian folk music under Haj Ghorbane Soleimani. His unique music style resembles a patchwork of persian classical poetry of Hafez, Rumi or Saadi with western music, namely rock, blue, and jazz. Since 2003 he has started recording parts of his own works in Tehran. His debut album titled Toranj was officially released in Iran in September 2007 with his own voice featured in most of his creations. He has also composed soundtracks for movies and plays, and was featured in the documentary Sounds of Silence (directed by Amir Hamz and Mark Lazarz) which has been screened at international film festivals. He also appeared in a feature narrative film called Few Kilograms of Dates for the Funeral (Director Saman Salur). Namjoo's first performance outside Iran was in January 2006 at the Tehran Hotspot of the International Rotterdam Film Festival where he played solo. His Stanford visit is co-sponsored by the Stanford Humanities Center. His residency at the Humanities Center was made possible through the generous support of the Flora Family Foundation and the Hariri Family.