2019 MARCH 40th season

NOWRUZ: PERSIAN NEW YEAR SPECIAL CONCERT

Carl St.Clair, conductor Dvořák CARNIVAL OVERTURE Shahrdad Rouhani, conductor and piano Homayoun Shajarian, vocalist Khachaturian “SABRE DANCE” FROM GAYANE

Tahmoures Pournazeri, tanbour Rohani DANCE OF SPRING Sohrab Pournazeri, and tanbour Shahrdad Rouhani Navid Kandelousi, violin Rohani FREEDOM Shahrdad Rouhani

Rohani PERSIAN GARDEN FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA Navid Kandelousi

Rohani BEAUTY OF LOVE Shahrdad Rouhani

Rohani MEDLEY IN ISFAHAN SCALE Shahrdad Rouhani

Intermission

THE MUSIC OF HOMAYOUN SHAJARIAN, TAHMOURES POURNAZERI, AND SOHRAB POURNAZERI

This concert is genorously sponsored by Anoosheh and Alan Oskouian, with generous additional support from members of Pacific Symphony’s Cyrus Society.

Sunday, March 24, 2019 @ 7 p.m. This concert’s special cultural sponsor is the Segerstrom Center for the Arts Farhang Foundation. Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall

Official Hotel Official TV Station Official Music Station Cultural Sponsor

PacificSymphony.org 40th Season | MARCH 2019 25 PROGRAM NOTES should have been far more influential in they are often viewed as two pawns the development of American classical stranded on the Kremlin’s deadly cultural Antonin Dvořák: music than it turned out to be. chessboard. But there was a third pawn For the Prague premiere of the in the game: Aram Khachaturian, whose Carnival Overture overture—a concert that turned out to popular and exuberant “Sabre Dance” is his be a kind of farewell performance for most often-heard composition. Observed at the the departing Dvořák—he wrote his own Composed as part of a serious four- astronomical moment program notes. Regarding the “Carnival act , the gleeful “Sabre Dance” marking the onset of Overture,” he commented that it was became one of those excerpts that springtime, Nowruz intended to evoke “a lonely, contemplative popped up seemingly everywhere. In is a good time for wanderer reaching at twilight a city where movies, television shows and cartoons, it music with energy, a festival is in full swing. On every side is became the go-to background track for optimism and growth. heard the clangor of instruments, mingled hilarious chaos and frenzied scrambling. That’s what we hear with shouts of joy and the unrestrained And why not? It’s irresistibly catchy, as in Antonin Dvořák’s hilarity of the people giving vent to their numerous cover artists have discovered. “Carnival Overture,” feelings in songs and dances.” But it was also part of a serious oeuvre as well as a melancholy glance back at Through much of the overture, but that included symphonies and concertos winter’s cold. But in addition to spring, we especially in its brilliant opening, its as well as full-length ballet scores. Six hear swing—the rhythmic impulse that vibrancy and color outweigh the “lonely, years after composing it, Khachaturian— makes this composer’s music seem to contemplative” side of the wanderer’s like Shostakovich and Prokofiev— dance. Dvořák believed passionately in feelings. The rapid tempos deploy all the was denounced by Stalin’s cultural composers’ use of indigenous sources sections of the orchestra in whirling, colorful bureaucracy. for their compositions, and in his own array. Ringing percussive accents convey So who was the real Aram music, native Czech sources account for the impression of celebratory dance. The Khachaturian? He was born in 1903 in the distinctively swaying melodies and overture is structured in basic sonata plan. the Armenian town of Tiflis, a suburb of ever-present danceability. By 1891, when But at the beginning of its development, Kodzhori (now Tbilisi). His family was in Dvořák began composing the “Carnival Dvořák embedded a melancholy passage the bookbinding trade, but even in early Overture,” his advocacy of this Czech- voiced by the English horn—a melody that childhood, Khachaturian was passionate centric approach was well established; represents, in the composer’s words, “a pair about the sounds and music around he stipulated that his German music of straying lovers.” This romantic interlude him. He later wrote, “Old Tiflis is a city of publisher include Czech titles for his gives the overture a sense of narrative sounds, a city of music. It took [only] a compositions, and as an esteemed faculty completion when the overture’s carnival stroll along the streets and lanes away member of the Prague Conservatory of atmosphere resumes. An energetic coda from the center, to plunge into the musical Music, he taught students how to integrate concludes the overture. atmosphere which was created by all the folk themes into classical forms. various sources …” The overture took shape over the Aram Khachaturian: Khachaturian’s musical interests took summer of 1891; it is saturated with the on a new seriousness when he arrived in warmth and energy of long summer days. “Sabre Dance” Moscow at the age of 19 and enrolled in It was during this period of composition a cello class at the Gnesin Music School. that Dvořák accepted Jeanette Thurber’s When we think of the His achievements bespeak his youthful invitation to become the director of the major 20th-century ambitions: while earning his degree in National Conservatory of Music in New composers who lived Moscow State University’s rigorous biology York City; he conducted the overture’s and worked under curriculum, he became a student leader premiere performance in Prague in April Soviet domination, at Gnesin, earning the right to perform in 1892, and the second performance at Prokofiev and the competitive student concerts at the Carnegie Hall the following October during Shostakovich come Moscow Conservatory. his residency in the U.S.—a period that to mind first; in fact, Khachaturian was one of the first

Antonín Dvořák Aram Khachaturian Born: 1841. Nelahozeves, Bohemia Born: 1903. Tbilisi, Georgia Died: 1904. Prague, Czechia Died: 1978. Moscow, Russia “Carnival Overture” “Sabre Dance” Composed: 1891 Composed: 1939 World premiere: April 28, 1892, with Dvořák conducting World premiere: Dec. 9, 1942, staged by the Kirov Ballet Most recent Pacific Symphony performance: Sept. 24, 2016, with Most recent Pacific Symphony performance: May 12, 2012, with Carl St.Clair conducting Maxim Eshkenazy conducting Instrumentation: 3 flutes (1 doubling piccolo), 3 oboes (1 doubling English Instrumentation: 3 flutes (1 doubling piccolo), 3 oboes (1 doubling English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons; 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba; horn), 3 clarinets (1 doubling bass clarinet), 2 bassoons; alto sax; 4 horns, timpani, percussion; harp; strings 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba; timpani, percussion; harp; celesta; strings Estimated duration: 10 minutes Estimated duration: 2 minutes

26 MARCH 2019 | 40th Season PacificSymphony.org students in Gnesin’s new composition which the “Sabre Dance” is excerpted—is take a talent like that of the Bach family, class, where a visit by the already- the standout, along with his landmark since J.S. Bach brought authoritative famous Sergei Prokofiev proved fateful Spartacus (1954). clarity to the Baroque era, while his sons for him: not only was he deeply inspired Gayane was first produced in 1939, helped define the next musical styles to by Prokofiev, but Prokofiev in turn when it was called Happiness. It was emerge in Europe. was so impressed with Khachaturian’s revised in 1941-42 and revived with its Bach? Did somebody mention Bach? potential that he brought some of current name, but revised again in 1952 In researching Shahrdad Rohani, your Khachaturian’scompositions to Paris and 1957, by which time the libretto had intrepid annotator found a resemblance for performance there. Prokofiev, changed substantially. The story is of between this Iranian-born composer’s and by extension Khachaturian, were peasant love and inter-ethnic conflict family and the Bach family. Rohani’s walking a political tightrope: Prokofiev’s that begins with the unhappy marriage brothers, like Rohani, are eminent international travels reflected a of the Armenian cotton farmer Gayane composers and instrumentalists in their “cosmopolitanism” that was suspect to and her drunken, abusive husband, Giko, own right. Their father, Reza Rohani, was Soviet cultural bureaucrats, but they also who falls in with smugglers despite a revered musician in , and his children recognized that global recognition of Gayane’s opposition. The tensions and followed suit. All told, the members of the Soviet cultural achievement was beneficial complications mount until, in Act III, Giko Rohani family are regarded as “National to the regime. stabs Gayane and is arrested by Kazakov, Musical Treasures” in Iran. Nonetheless, in 1948, Khachaturian commander of the Soviet frontier guard. Born in 1954, Rohani began violin was officially denounced by the Soviet As Gayane regains her health, she and studies at age 5 with his father. He then ministry of culture. At age 45 he was at Kazakov fall in love. Finally, in Act IV, entered the conservatory in , and the height of a major career, presumably Gayane and Kazakov are united as part of continued his studies at the Vienna with decades more work ahead of him. a triple wedding that turns into a joyous Conservatory. In the 1980s he accepted a He apologized and returned to Armenia celebration of inter-ethnic harmony. The scholarship for music study at UCLA. for “re-education.” But in 1957, when colorful folk dances of many peoples Stylistically, Rohani’s amalgam of he was re-appointed to the Soviet include the exuberant “Sabre Dance.” influences has given his music a fresh, Composer’s Union, the arc of that career lustrous sound and a special affinity for appeared to have broken. According to Shahrdad Rohani: the flowing qualities of “new age” style. His NPR’s Huizinga, “all his major works were compositions have an appeal that knows behind him.” Today their scintillating mix Dance of Spring no boundaries: listeners throughout the of folk motifs, neo-romantic style and world took note when he arranged and spectacular orchestration—elements we Geopolitics conducted the televised blockbuster can hear in the “Sabre Dance”—are like notwithstanding, “Yanni Live at the Acropolis” concert in treasure waiting for rediscovery by the works by Iranian Athens. In 1998 his music for the opening American orchestras that have neglected filmmakers and ceremonies of the 13th Asian Games, Khachaturian for half a century. “It’s the writers have a commission from the government of kind of music that makes you smile,” increasingly drawn Thailand, became the most popular music contends Arzuni. “It makes me smile. I feel admiration in the U.S. of the event; he received that country’s good about it. It communicates.” in recent years. But highest cultural honor, the King’s Golden Like Prokofiev and the early what about musical Pikanes Award, the following year. Shostakovich (until Stalin denounced artists? Combining The aesthetic qualities of Rohani’s him), Khachaturian loved to compose the traditions of Iranian classical music unique international style are appealingly music for narrative works—plays, , with those of the West poses special expressed in his lovely “Dance of Spring.” movies and symphonic suites based on challenges, since many touchstones It is simple and brief, yet seems to plays. He composed for Lope de Vega’s of Middle Eastern performance—the blossom as we listen, opening with rolling The Valencian Widow (1940), Lermontov’s rhythmic complexities, the subtleties of arpeggios that caress the ear and then Masquerade (1941), and numerous films. intonation, the instrumental textures— gather energy—first with the solo piano, Among his ballet scores, Gayane—from defy adaptation. You might say it would then with the emergence of the orchestra. The primal melody is modal in a way that defies Western notions of major and Shahrdad Rohani minor. It is a warm salutation of the new Born: 1954. Tehran, Iran season and an affirmation—a dance of life. “Dance of Spring” Most recent Pacific Symphony performance: Feb. 1, 2015, with Carl St.Clair conducting Michael Clive is a cultural reporter living Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 1 piccolo, 2 oboes, 1 English horn, 2 clarinets, in the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut. 1 e-flat clarinet, 1 bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 1 contrabasoon, 4 horns, 3 He is program annotator for Pacific trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, timpani, percussion, piano, soprano sax, Symphony and Louisiana Philharmonic, and electric guitar, and strings editor‑in‑chief for The Santa Fe . Estimated duration: 5 minutes

PacificSymphony.org 40th Season | MARCH 2019 27 germinated grain is spread over a dish the firing of cannons. A few hours before Nowruz and allowed to grow. By the time Nowruz this solemn moment, all the members of The New Year Celebration in Iran arrives, the grains have sent up a fresh the family gather in the house. Candles or mass of green blades as a token of spring. lamps are lit, and a special table is spread An excerpt by Professor Ehsan Yarsharter This decorative symbol of good omen is in the main room. On it are placed a mirror, kept till the end of the holidays. candlesticks, and the holy book, according Of all the Persian national During the days immediately preceding to the family’s faith. Generally, also a bowl festivals, the New Year Nowruz, an amusing spectacle is provided of water, with a green leaf floating in it, celebrations are at once by the “fire lighters,” men wearing high a flagon of rosewater, a piece of bread, the most important and hats, harlequin dress studded with small herbs, fruits, candies and cakes specially the most colorful. This festival bells, often with their faces painted black, made for Nowruz, and two other items embodies a wealth of ancient or wearing a grotesque mask. These particularly prepared: colored eggs and rites and customs, and it is messengers of joy parade the streets with the Haft-Sîn. The latter is a special feature about the only one in Persia a troupe of performers, which may include of Nowruz and consists of seven articles that is not confined to the dancers, acrobats, and folk musicians, whose names begin with the letter “S.” As traditions of only one religious group. reciting folk songs and trying various a rule, they are seeb, sabzi, sir, serkeh, It symbolizes the continuity of ancient tricks to amuse the spectators. The sumac, senjed and samanu; that is, Persian culture, which has survived so Wednesday preceding the New Year apple, fresh herbs, garlic, vinegar, sumac, many adversities and vicissitudes. calls for particular ceremonies and Bohemian olives, and a sweet-tasting food The Nowruz celebration stretches performances of very old origin. The rites prepared with green wheat. Other articles over a period of 13 days, the last being of good omen may be added to those a special occasion calling for particular already mentioned. ceremonies. The period begins with the When finally the moment When the moment finally arrives, the first day of spring, when the sun enters the arrives the family gathering family gathering is pervaded by a spirit of zodiacal sign of the Ram. At Nowruz people joy and happiness. The members of the join nature in making a fresh start, full is pervaded by a spirit of family embrace each other, greetings of joy and hope for the coming year. The and good wishes are expressed and gifts origin of Nowruz is traditionally attributed joy and happiness. The are exchanged. The special food being to Jamshid, the mightiest and the most served on New Year’s Eve consists mainly glorious of the legendary kings of Persia. members of the family of steamed rice mixed with herbs and Nowruz is reckoned by a solar embrace each other, fried fish. calendar. This was adopted in ancient Visiting relatives and friends, a times by the Zoroastrians, and it is used greetings and good wishes characteristic feature of Nowruz, begins today as the national calendar of Persia. on the first day and continues to the end However, one must bear in mind that the are expressed, and gifts of the 12th. The elder members of the Zoroastrian year did not always begin family receive the visit first, and the junior on the 21st of March (1st of Farvardin). are exchanged. members later. A general air of gaiety, There are reasons to believe that at one contentment and rejoicing marks the time it began with the commencement of and customs vary somewhat from region atmosphere of these days. autumn. Nowruz and Mehregan, another to region, but a common and essential Nowruz ceremonies are brought to ancient festival, continue to be the main ceremony consists of piling at least an appropriate end by spending the 13th national Persian festivals. three small heaps of shrubbery in the day in the open country. It is considered Today, while many of the ancient courtyard and setting them afire. Then unlucky to stay at home, and on this festivals have faded away in most parts all the members of the family jump over day the countryside around large cities of the country, Nowruz remains a national the flames in turn, reciting a little rhyme is covered by groups of people in high Persian festival, and its advent brings of good augur: “My pallor to you, your spirits, who have trooped out to walk in joy to the hearts of the people. Although ruddiness to me.” the fresh fields and enjoy a rest along the many of the old customs and ceremonies, A thorough housecleaning is essential banks, enjoying games. Comic performers as recorded in histories and travel books, to the preparations for Nowruz: all the resembling the “fire lighters” are particular have vanished with the passing of time, rugs and linen are washed, furniture favorites of the people. what remains makes Nowruz the most meticulously cleaned, and, if possible, The green shoots of wheat or lentil fascinating of the Persian festivals, the house repaired and painted. In some must be thrown out on the 13th day, and rich in folkloric details and symbolic regions it was customary to break all the when possible, thrown into the running reminiscences. earthenware vessels and throw them out, water. With the discarding of the “sabzeh” The preparation for Nowruz begins replacing them with new ones. Everyone one throws out all the misfortune and bad well in advance. Children and young people is supposed to provide himself with new luck. By going out into the open country particularly are excited at the thought of clothes, shoes and hats for Nowruz. one welcomes in the spring and leaves all approaching Nowruz with its prospects Children are particularly attached to this the bad luck associated with the number of gifts, new clothes and the round of aspect of the festival. As the exact time of 13 on the lap of nature where it can do no festive parties. Some 10 to 15 days before the New Year draws near, everyone gets harm. Spring each household starts preparing ready for the occasion. The exact time, On the return from the countryside the the “sabzeh”: grains of wheat or lentil that is, the moving of the Sun to the sign of Nowruz holidays come to a close, and there are put into water to germinate; then the the Ram, is announced in larger cities by is almost a year to prepare for the next.

28 MARCH 2019 | 40th Season PacificSymphony.org PacificSymphony.org 40th Season | MARCH 2019 29 Shahrdad Rohani Homayoun Shajarian Tahmoures Pournazeri conductor and piano vocalist tanbour Born in Tehran, Homayoun Shajarian is a Tahmoures Pournazeri conductor Shahrdad Persian classical music is a musician and Rohani was educated at and Persian classical composer whose the Music Academy and crossover vocalist, and creativity and Conservatory of Music a player. “Hava- inventiveness have in Vienna, Austria. ye Geryeh” is one of his marked him as a Currently, Rohani is the most famous songs. distinguished artist musical director and He was born in Tehran of his generation. He principal conductor of in a music-dedicated has been acclaimed the Tehran Symphony, having served in family. He is the son of Mohammad Reza by the U.S. Senate for composing music this position since 2015. The resurrection Shajarian, the grand master vocalist for the International Nowruz Celebration, of the symphony in the early 2000’s has of Persian traditional music. Upon his and collaborated with artists like Joan been instrumental in connecting Tehran father’s advice, he began studying Baez, Shujaat Hussain Khan and the great to the international arts community, knowledge of technique and rhythm under master Mohammad Reza Shajarian. He has including recent collaborations with supervision of Nasser Farhangfar, master composed 15 albums covering six genres noted conductors such as Riccardo of the tombak, a Persian hand drum, at the of music, participated in the Avignon Muti. In addition to his role as director age of 5. Afterwards, he also continued Festival at the age of 15, won first honors of the Tehran Symphony, Rohani wrote learning the tombak under Jamshid among Young Iranian Talents at age 14 and and performed the anthem for the Iran Mohebbi’s supervision. He commenced performed with the Shamss Ensemble National Soccer team’s appearance learning Persian traditional vocal Avaz at at Iran’s most celebrated concert halls during the World Cup in 2018. He was also the age of 10, alongside his older sisters starting at age 12. commissioned to compose the music for under their father’s supervision, and He was born in February 1977 to the the opening and closing ceremonies of the gained knowledge of Avaz techniques musical Pournazeri family. His father 13th Asian Olympic Games held in Thailand. and voice-producing. Simultaneously, he Kaykhosro Pournazeri is known as the An acclaimed composer and conductor, attended Tehran Conservatory of Music father of Sufi music and of the tanbour, his Rohani has worked with some of the and chose kamancheh as his professional grandfather Haji Khan was a distinguished top ensembles in the world including instrument as well as being tutored by tar player, and his passionate, the London Symphony Orchestra, Ardeshir Kamkar. In 1991, he accompanied compassionate mother is fondly the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the his father in concerts of Ava Music remembered by the family members as Vancouver Opera Orchestra, the Austrian Ensemble in the U.S., Europe and Iran, their primary supporter. Chamber Orchestra and the London playing tombak; and from 1999 on, started His fascination with music is a result Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. accompanying his father on vocals as well. of growing up in this environment. At a He captured the attention of audiences His first independent work Nassim-e Vasl, time when even the simplest musical around the world as the conductor, composed by Mohammad Javad Zarrabian, performance would be discouraged by arranger and performer for the open-air was published on his 28th birthday. the government and television programs concert “Yanni Live at the Acropolis,” the were not allowed to broadcast the playing second-best selling music concert video of instruments, the young Pournazeri had of all time. The show was simultaneously music and musical instruments as his only televised all around the world; more means of play and entertainment, and the than 500 million people watched the live poems of Rumi & Hafez were (and remain) concert in 65 countries. His most recent his story-books and guides. project is the “Sinus Persicus Suite,” His knowledge in the fields of Iranian originally recorded with the London tribal and traditional music, as well Symphony Orchestra and the London as western-style composition, has Voices at Abbey Road Studios. Over the allowed him to create a new and original past year, the “Sinus Persicus Suite” has style, which is considered a great been performed throughout Europe and accomplishment in Eastern music. the United States. Along with his father Kaykhosro and his Rohani has been the recipient of brother Sohrab, he leads and directs the several important scholarships and Shams Ensemble, considered one of Iran’s awards both in Europe and the United foremost musical groups. He plays all the States, including the A.K.M Scholarship major Iranian instruments, concentrating (Vienna, Austria), the ASCAP Scholarship especially on the tar, setar, tanbour, (Los Angeles, California) and the Jerry barbat and daf, and has experimented Fielding Award for film composers. His with and composed for new instruments recording of classical masterpieces, designed by Mohammad Reza Shajarian. including all of Tchaikovsky’s ballets, have received rave reviews by the In Tune magazine in Japan.

30 MARCH 2019 | 40th Season PacificSymphony.org He continues to compose in the He also pursues vocalizing and composing Navid Kandelousi fields of mystical music, modern Iranian with the same unique approach, and has violin classical music, Kurdish music, symphonic been able to steer the distinct Pournazeri Born in Iran, Navid orchestral music and modern fusion. He musical form (with its emphasis on Kandelousi started his also has extensive experience in the field passion, emotion and inventiveness) musical journey at the of music recording. towards new horizons. age of six by studying His cooperation with Homayoun In the summer of 2017, he performed violin under Iranian and Shajarian, the celebrated Iranian singer, the C Project for the first time alongside Russian instructors. In has led to a best-selling album, Beyond Any Homayoun Shajarian in Tehran’s historical 1999 he was invited to Form, and the highest grossing concert Saadabad Palace Complex, a project join The Iranian National tour in the history of Iranian music, with a he created with the aim of reviving Orchestra as a violin total audience of over 120,000. The album the “wisdom” and old traditions of the soloist, a position which he held until also features Sohrab Pournazeri on the Shahnameh (“The Book of Kings”) for the 2006, when he left Iran for Italy. He studied kamancheh, American composer David K. younger generations while familiarizing Western classical music at the Verdi Garner, Indian sitar virtuoso Shujaat Khan, the audience with the roots of ancient Conservatory in Milano, Italy, and at the Venezuelan flautist Pedro Eustache and Iranian culture and literature. In this Moscow Violin Academy in Russia. In 2009, American blues guitarist Jimmy Johnson. project, Iranian musicians work alongside Kandelousi was invited to join the Gateway actors, artists, a film crew, and lighting Symphony in New York City and the and sound experts in order to create a International American YPHIL Orchestra at unique multifaceted experience for the Carnegie Hall. He has mastered virtuosic Sohrab Pournazeri audience. skills on a great breadth of instruments kamancheh and tanbour He is also well versed in the regional including the violin, setar, taar and Sohrab Pournazeri, music of his native Iran, as well as western kamanchah, in addition to experience with virtuoso of the tanbour classical music, and holds a degree in piano, tonbak, santour and gheychak. and the kamancheh, Music Performance. As a soloist and Throughout his professional career, is a sensational vocalist, he has collaborated with artists he has collaborated with numerous phenomenon of and ensembles worldwide, including prestigious Persian ensembles such modern Iranian music. Mr. Shajarian, Shujaat Hussain Khan, as Iranian National Orchestra and He is a singer and the Beyond Borders Project and Pacific Pacific Symphony, and has performed instrumentalist whose Symphony. internationally across Europe, Asia and music has surpassed America in venues such as the Lincoln the borders of Iran, fusing with cultures Center, Juilliard Music School, Albert Hall, and artists as far and wide as China and Kennedy Center, Sydney’s Symphony Hall the United States. His talent and courage and Vahdat Hall, while winning numerous have been acknowledged as extraordinary music and violin awards. His teaching by no less than Mohammad Reza Shajarian, background includes work at the Yamaha the great master of Iranian music. School of Music, Suzuki Violin School, and He was born in 1982 to the musical Master Classes in kamanchah, taar and family of Pournazeris. His father setar at The Julliard School. He received Kaykhosro Pournazeri is one of Iran’s a scholarship from Maestro Daniel Phillips most influential musicologists, and his in Queens College of Music 2012-15, and brother Tahmoures has engendered a new recently attended the Silk Road Global movement in Iranian music through his Music Workshop with Maestro Yo-Yo Ma in performances and compositions. Indianapolis. Music was his mother tongue; he learned it as other children learn to speak. At the age of 2, he would play his father’s THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSOR: tanbour (whose body was larger than his) FARHANG FOUNDATION and sing the poetry of Rumi and Hafez. At 13, he was introduced to the stage as part Established in 2008 in Los of the Shamss Ensemble, and today he is considered one of the core members of Angeles, Farhang Foundation is a the group. non-religious, non-political, and That same year, he studied the not-for-profit foundation with a techniques of the kamancheh with Ardeshir Kamkar, and because of his mission to celebrate and promote musical talent, was able to begin playing Iranian art and culture for the as a soloist with the Shamss Ensemble benefit of the community at large. after two years. He has followed in the footsteps of his musical family, yet has achieved distinct and idiosyncratic techniques that make his method of playing entirely unprecedented.

PacificSymphony.org 40th Season | MARCH 2019 31 Cyrus Society

The Cyrus Society is a group of business, community and cultural leaders with a passion for classical music, who may open avenues of engagement to the Iranian communities of Orange County. Cyrus Society members are generously supportive of Pacific Symphony’s efforts to build long-term partnerships with the growing number of Iranian and Iranian-American leaders and residents in our region in order to support cultural celebrations and deepen understanding.

Hafez level: $25,000 Roudaki level: $5,000 Other Donations Anoosheh and Alan Oskouian Rosa and Alex Agahi Bayside and Bistango Susan and Samuel Anderson Restaurants Sepehri level: $10,000 Niloofar and Bahman Fakhimi Victoria and David Collins Suzy and Jeff Elghanayan Assad Kazeminy Darioush Winery Farhang Foundation Nooshin and Mehdi Khosh Sarah & Joe Kiani Jacquelyn and Pedram Mizani Theresa and Abbas Mohaddes Parto and Mike Moshayedi Vafa and Ladan Rakshani

Dr. Poupak Zadeh and Kas Ebrahim

32 MARCH 2019 | 40th Season PacificSymphony.org