Bita Prize for Young Persian Artists: Dena Taherianfar

For the past seven years, we have been giving an annual award, named the Bita Prize for Persian Letters. The winners have been some of the most prominent Iranian writers, poets, vocalists, and playwrights of our time—from Simin Behbahani and Mohammad Reza Shajarian (the first the poet laureate of the people and the second  the country's most beloved vocalist), to Bahram Beyzaie (the eminent film-maker and playwright) and Mahshid Amirshahy (the acclaimed writer and translator). Beginning this year, with the generous support of Ms Bita Daryabari, we are launching a second award, this time dedicated to young artists. If the Bita award recognizes and celebrates a lifetime of artistic achievements, the Bita Prize for Young Persian Artists hopes to identify and help the careers of young talents. It is our belief and hope that receiving an award at Stanford will help these young artists on their quest for excellence. We are also proud to announce that this year's award ceremonies will be held at the new Bing Concert Hall at Stanford--one of the best performance halls in the world today.

For a virtual tour of the Bing Concert Hall, please click on the following link: http://live.stanford.edu/media/videos/bing-concert-hall-fly-through  

The first winner of the Bita Prize for Young Persian Artists will be Ms Dena Taherianfar.

Dena Taherianfar was born in Tehran, in November of 1996. She began taking lessons in piano when she was six. Her first teacher was Mrs. Shohreh J. Ghajar. Dena gave her debut concert in the renowned Roudaki Concert Hall of Tehran in 2008.

At her teacher’s suggestion, Dena eventually moved to Vienna where she began to study piano with Prof. Stanislaw Tichonow at the Joseph Haydn Conservatory.

She has won numerous national and international prizes. She performed at the Gala Concert in the House of “Music House” in Vienna, and won two first prizes in the Austrian Youth Competitions “Prima La Musica.” She has also won first prizes in the International Competition “Concours Flame 2011” in Paris, “Valsesia Musica 2012” in Italy, and the “21st Century Art 2013” in Vienna.

For additional information about the artist, please visit her website: http://denataherianfar.wix.com/dena

Venue: Bing Concert Hall, Stanford University (327 Lasuen Street, Stanford Ca 94205)

Time: 7:00 PM