{"id":56163,"date":"2018-10-07T12:00:08","date_gmt":"2018-10-07T16:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=56163"},"modified":"2018-10-07T12:00:50","modified_gmt":"2018-10-07T16:00:50","slug":"interview-how-an-iranian-musician-has-created-a-revolution-in-persian-classical-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2018\/10\/07\/interview-how-an-iranian-musician-has-created-a-revolution-in-persian-classical-music\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW |\u00a0How An Iranian Musician Has Created A Revolution In Persian Classical Music"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_56172\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56172\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-56172\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/10\/Naziri-no-text.jpg\" alt=\"Hafez Nazeri\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/10\/Naziri-no-text.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/10\/Naziri-no-text-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/10\/Naziri-no-text-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-56172\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ahead of his appearance in Toronto on Oct. 21, Hafez Nazeri chats about the Rumi Symphony Orchestra project, and the divide between past and present. (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em><strong>This interview is sponsored by the Small World Music Society.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>At this very moment in Iran, its people live under a veiled society.<\/p>\n<p>Hafez Nazeri is a man with a tall build. Even that cannot shield him from persecution: as long as he remains in Iran, this Persian musician lives under constant threat whenever he performs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost of the time when I go out in Iran, I prefer to cover up \u2014 I have a hat, I have big glasses for my eyes and eyebrows, I use a cheap car,\u201d he laughs, explaining how passersby would otherwise recognize him on the street.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not very comfortable,\u201d he continues, \u201cI feel Iranians look at me as an outsider sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Societal rifts are abundant in Iran. For example, there is an unwritten policy that women cannot sing in public.<\/p>\n<p>Nazeri responded by engaging female singers for his Rumi Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook, you can\u2019t be against them,\u201d Nazeri explains. \u201cMusic is the sound of God \u2014 you cannot prohibit women of singing, and if you do you\u2019re against God, whom you prize so much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>None of this sits well with the Iranian government \u2014 a handful of times, they have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iq-mag.net\/2017\/08\/iran-artists-demand-end-concert-cancellations\/#.W7jL3xNKiX0\">shut down his performances<\/a> on the day of the show.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ojst9nWgcI0?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>In building bridges, Nazeri has become a polarizing figure in his homeland. He\u2019s the son of a well-respected Iranian singer, but even that doesn\u2019t grant him immunity from spiteful action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Iranian musicians] feel like if you touch the tradition, \u2018Oh my God!\u2019 you are destroying everything \u2014 humanity and the universe are going to be destroyed!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An intuitive musician, Nazeri\u2019s musical development began in his late teens as he performed alongside his father, singer Shahram Nazeri. In his early twenties, young Hafez followed his creative impulses to New York City to pursue western classical music. He studied composition and orchestral conducting at the Mannes School of Music for seven years, where his idea for Rumi Symphony Orchestra hatched.<\/p>\n<p>Media appearances soon followed: music from the Rumi Symphony Project has been broadcasted on CNN, ABC and Fox TV. The crowning achievement of Nazeri\u2019s time in the United States was the launch of the Rumi Project CD series: after 5,000 hours in the recording studio and five years of preparation, the first volume was released on the Sony Classical label.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oxq9J-Vx2bI%5D?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Returning to Iran with the Rumi Symphony Orchestra, Nazeri also gained a quick following \u2014 but not in the way he wanted. Aside from government shutdowns of concerts, major critics refer to his music as \u201cnothing\u201d and \u201cpropaganda\u201d with \u201cnothing new to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nazeri remembers it to be a hard period with Iran\u2019s \u201cmusical establishment,\u201d an elite circle which he had been born into. Against the odds, his project still managed to grow: by his count, nearly 300,000 people attended the Rumi Symphony Project CD tour across Iran \u2014 a record for the biggest concert tour in the history of Iranian music. In contrast to the senior \u201cestablishment,\u201d the audience tended to be between 20 and 30 years old.<\/p>\n<p>Younger generations seem to identify with the Rumi Symphony Orchestra\u2019s philosophy: not just playing music for light entertainment: their goal is to foster a safe space of love and unity wherever they perform.<\/p>\n<p>The orchestra members perform Western-sounding selections set to poetry in the Farsi language. Audiences will see familiar instruments like the violin, viola, cello and percussion, played by Nazeri and his father; of course, females are holding their own in soprano and mezzo-soprano roles.<\/p>\n<p>Nazeri is particularly proud of his own innovation, a readapted Persian setar.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/E6Y-b5ZY03Y?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>The setar looks similar to the Indian sitar, but Nazeri has made key changes to bring a 2,000-year-old instrument into the present day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople persisted with its shortcomings for thousands of years,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe sound of the setar is not enough for two people, but too much for one person.<\/p>\n<p>And modernize the instrument he did: two bass strings were added to expand the instrumental range four-or-fivefold. New tuning pegs shortened performance preparation time to a few seconds. With 17 extra chromatic pitches and the ability to play more than one musical line, Nazeri says this will encourage composers to open up their imagination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you wanted to compare our music to Western classical music, when Persian musicians sit with one instrument, they close their eyes and they improvise and they try basically to translate the time and the moment into music,\u201d Nazeri says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn our music, the older you become, the better you get. The music is not only about technique and all of that \u2013 it\u2019s about the spiritual journey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He ruminates: \u201cYou just close your eyes, and the music is in your head. You just play \u2014 God knows how and God knows what.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Shahram Nazeri and Hafez Nazeri will perform at the Sony Centre on October 21. They will play selections from <\/em>Untold \u2014 A New Beginning<em> alongside musicians from Rumi Symphony Orchestra. Tickets are available <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sonycentre.ca\/calendar-event-details\/?id=478\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a><\/span>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/7zcmchJGIM2ECggG9rZNnN\" width=\"300\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hafez Nazeri\u2019s Rumi Symphony Orchestra project with acclaimed Iranian singer Shahram Nazeri has become one of the most talked classical releases in recent times, resulting in a #1 spot on the Billboard charts. We chat with Nazeri about his creative journey, and the divide between past and present, which has been fraught with obstacles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":56172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14761,29,13024,60,63],"tags":[23103,23104],"yst_prominent_words":[6715,19610,23096,22753,23101,6616,22755,6613,12489,23097,23100,23093,23092,23094,22754,6637,6826,23098,23099,23095],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/10\/Naziri-no-text.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-eBR","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56163"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56163"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56175,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56163\/revisions\/56175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56163"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=56163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}