1/10/2008

Mehr Ensemble and Regular Mehr

Rain outside my window in Berkeley this week.
We had another day of rain today, possibly the last one this week. Though weather doesn't normally affect my moods too much, I felt sad and tired when I woke up to rain this morning. Well, it might have nothing to do with the weather anyway. Let's not talk about sadness, though. Let me share something I recently found with you. My friend, Dr. Zari Taheri, sent me links to videoclips of musical presentations by Mehr Ensemble, of whom I had never heard before. All the musicians in this group are very young, but pretty accomplished in their instruments. The interesting thing about them is that this is an all-women group. Take a look at this videoclip. The best I could make out about the group through watching all the clips is that their composer and aristic director is Azar Zargarian, who also plays the Tar, with Mehrbanu as the vocalist, Hannaneh Saeidi on Qanun, Najmeh Saghari on Barbat, Sanaz Keshavarz on Tombak, Marjan Tavakoi on Tanbur and Daf, and Raana Shieh on Kamancheh. I found this part of their presentation in Italy particularly uplifting because of the percussionists' (Daf and Tombak) interaction with one another. They are young and we must watch them over the coming years as they do seem to have great potential. (If you are unable to access YouTube, check this out. You can see their other clips there, too.)
These are the last few days of college winter break, and I smiled to myself this morning when I found not one (Iden), but two of my sons' friends sleeping in the living room. I was further surprised this evening to see them all back at the house, as my younger son and I have been having some rocky times together recently. He came and talked to me about the things he had put off doing for a long time (the source of our conflict). Apparently, he accomplished many of them today. Interesting. Now they are back to sitting around and talking and laughing together and something tells me I will have to feed them all shortly. Why don't I mind that?! I have been working on a work-related project all day and will continue until it's finished tonight, coming back to reply to comments when I'm done. Have a good evening in our parts and a happy morning in Tehran and a good time in all the places in between.
P.S. For those of you who live in these parts, I would like to tell you that Berkeley Lecture Series will have a program this coming Saturday, January 12, 2008 at 3:00 P.M., at 101 Moffitt Library of UC Berkeley. The lecturer will be Professor Sohrab Behdad of Denison University, who will talk on "The Rise and Fall of Iranian Social Classes in the Post-Revolutionary Iran." Please note that the meeting has a different time and venue than Berkeley Lecture Series' usual. Lecture is in Farsi.

12 comments:

Babak said...

I really enjoy the clips; thanks for sharing them.
I would like to come and see you, your city and the university which my adviser was graduated from.
If my side-project goes right, I may attend a conference in Reno early March, and then I will visit you.

midnight/... said...

Nice ensemble! Thanks for sharing Nazy joon. Good luck with your work related project. Let's get together my dear, I am so longing to meet you again. I will figure sth out for us :)

Tameshk said...

Nazy joonam

I know how great those rocky moments are; Sad, Exciting and Great at the same time: in my experience nothing bad comes out of those harsh times, when they happen among our loved ones: Two summers ago, when I was back home after three years of being away I had such moments with my extraordinary brother; I miss him so much and I miss those moments with him and his friends. I cannot wait to see you.

Love,
Roja,

PS. I just felt I need to explain more that's why I added some more things to my deleted comments ;D

Marzieh said...

نازی عزیزم ممنون برای کلیپ های زیبات
امیدوارم که کارهات رو به را باشه.
در ضمن ار خوند کامنتت راجع به سرسره بازی مررررردم از خنده چقدر تو با نمکییییی
برای من پیش نیومده هنوز!!!!!!!!!!
:) :)

Anonymous said...

vaghean inja doost dashtaniye. bekhatere hame eshgho mohabate shoma.

مسعود said...

سلام نازی خانم
این حالات درونی ماست که بر درک ما از طبیعت اثر می گذارد و نه بعکس.سهراب به شن و ماسه و زمین هم جوری نگاه میکرد که به گل و نسیم ووووو
شاید به چیزی مربوط شود که
bio rhythm
نام دارد اگرچه شبه علمیست ولی توجیه دارد
بارانی باش

Nazy said...

Salam Bar Babak-e-Aziz:

Thank you for coming my friend! I'm glad you enjoyed the music of the young musicians. Your news was indeed very good news! Do come and visit whenever you get a chance, that would be lovely! I'll be honored to show you around Berkeley. Ghadame shoma sare chashm! How exciting!

Nazy said...

Salam Nimeh Shab Jan:

Glad you liked it! My project was completed and delivered late this afternoon and I am soooooo relieved! We must absolutely get together soon, as I do miss you very much my friend. I'll call you tomorrow (well, later today, I guess!). Take care azizam and have a fabulous weekend.

Nazy said...

Sweet and Thoughtful Tameshk:

Thank you for your compassionate comment. Yes, you are so right.

I can't believe you and Hossein will be here next week! Come right over, though I can see that I have tough competition in hosting you! I hope all goes well with Hossein's mission and that we will get to see you even more often. Yippee!

Nazy said...

Salam Marzieh Jan:

I'm so happy you enjoyed the music clips. Ha Ha, I love going and teasing my young-mother friends, especially Mana! It's funny, because my friends have said that when I write in Farsi, it is as though it is another person leaving those comments! I guess I sound a lot more serious when I write in English, but I don't mind it. Have a good weekend my friend!

Nazy said...

Salam Bar Shohre-ye Aziz:

Welcome and thank you for reading and leaving me a comment. I am honored. You are really kind to me. I hope you come back soon.

Nazy said...

Masoud Jan:

You might be right about moods. Sohrab did have a very beautiful outlook on life, and we can only aspire to be as optimistic and hopeful as he was about everything. The good news is that as I step into Saturday, my Thursday blues have vanished and I'm back to normal again. Thank you for your as usual thoughtful comment. Be good and stay safe from Karoun's cold winds.