12/27/2007
Lily Afshar
Scanning events and pictures on Iranian news websites, I was delighted to come across this photograph, showing that the world renowned classical guitar master, Lily Afshar, attended Fajr Music Festival in Tehran this month. She was born and raised in Tehran, attended higher edcation in the US, becoming the first woman in the world to gain a Doctorate of Music in guitar performance. She is now a Professor at University of Memphis, managing the guitar progam there, and giving concert performances all over the world, receiving international acclaim for her artistic ahievements. Washington Post described her onstage performances as “remarkable, impeccable.” She sometimes plays Iranian folkloric melodies on her guitar, too. Listen to this short interview with her on Memphis TV. Also watch her play Aziz Joon and Dareneh Jan here (though the video quality isn't that good). If you can't access Youtube, try this link. You can also listen to pieces of her music on her website, which I'm sure is not filtered in Iran. Perhaps the most remarkable thing I can say about this beautiful and talented Iranian woman is that those who know her, those who have been her students, particularly her students inside Iran, all agree that Lily Afshar is one of the warmest, most generous, and most Iranian people they have ever met. In researching her a bit, I found this blog entry an Iranian blogger wrote about her concert in shiraz three years ago, which he attended.
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11 comments:
This is a a great post! I read about her a few months ago and am so glad you did this update (follow up for me.) Thank you.
سلام
خیلی ممنون از خبر
باعث شادی می شه برای همه ایرانیان و به خصوص خانمها.
نازی جون شما خودت چه سازی بلدی؟
مرسی از جواب که در راهه! بوس بای
سلام نازی جون.وب سایت جدید مبارکه.تعطیلات خوبی برات آرزو می کنم
Salam Bijan Jan:
I'm glad you liked this post. I am always looking for extraordinary Iranians to write about. They give me such hope. Lily Afshar is a remarkable artist with a good heart.
Salam Bar Marzieh!
I laughed so hard at your question and even showed it to my sisters tonight and they laughed, too! The reason is that as much I adore music, I haven't been terribly successful in learning it. Years ago, I took Santour lessons with the late master, Hossein Malek, in Tehran. I have a beautiful Hossein Malek Santour, too, but I never developed any exceptional skills with the instrument. In later years, I picked up playing Daf. As you well know, Daf is an instrument which must be played in an ensemble, and you must be extraordinarily expert in playing it if you want to play solo, which I'm not. I await chances to "jam" with my friends and family, but the opportunities are few and far in between, so I don't really get to play that much. Several members of my family are musically talented and they play the piano, tar, setar, tombak, and oud. I do much better when I am a "consumer" of music than when a "producer!" Thanks for asking and I hope your life is filled with music everyday.
Salam Mana Jan:
Thank you for visiting my new weblog! I am still waiting for Leva to come teach me some tricks before I can move there.
I hope you have a fabulous long weekend, too, and Eid-e-shoma ham mobarak.
bousssssssss merci az javab
vali midoonam ke shekaste nafsi mikoni azizam
Marzieh
سلام نازی خانم
وقتی به نوای عزیز جون گوش می دادم،صدای سحر انگیز پری زنگنه در گوشم بود.شعر و موسیقی ایرانی افسون کننده است و البته محزون .به نظرم سهم حزن در آن بیشتر است،اما در موسیقی محلی که نه سازنده اش و نه سراینده اش شناخته شده نیست،سهم شادی بیشترست.
شاد باشی
نازی آدرس com. رو چک میکنید؟
کد.م آدرس رو سر بزنیم ؟
Salam Masoud Jan:
I think I have written something about this in my previous posts and replies. Ostad Hossein Alizadeh once told us in a lecture at Berkeley that Iranian folk music is either very energetic, such as many you see in Gilak and Kurdish songs, to enable farmers to work in the fields, or is very slow and melancholic for the same farmers' resting time. He said that both the "happy" and the "sad" melodies are needed in a farmer's life. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the subject. Be happy Masoud Jan.
Salam Fari Jan:
Yes, I do visit the other blog, too. But until I learn how to use it fluently, may I ask you to stay with me here? I will let you know as soon as I'm ready to switch. Thank you my friend. Eidet mobarak.
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