[tuning kamancheh] music hooks me up with some other world that, uh, it doesnt exist in our everyday life. [playing kamancheh] and, um, you know, somehow, when i was really little, i became interested inin playing kamancheh, and there was this old master, ostad aliasghar bahari. He appeared on tv, i mean i was totally fascinated, uh, with the way he was playing the instrument, because the sound was something that i. You know, spoke to me, spoke to my soul. I was bornn a nonmusical family. My father was an agricultural engineer, my brother was an instrument maker, um, my mother knew all of the songs that my father was, um, you know, thwas a true music lover, and he had a big archive of, you know, all the recordings and things. So, i grew up in a musical family, but not a musician family. I really loved music, and, uh, iii ran home from school, you know, to play. And then, um, by the time i was seven, they took me to music school, and i started to play uh, violin, in iranian style. And then after a while i became interested in in playing kamancheh. My First Teacher was master ahmad mohajer. He was really patient, kind and knowledgeable. He has the most important effect on my character, on my personality, my, uh, music. And ii learned a lot from him. By the time i finished my high school, and i was 16, the beginning of the revolution in iran in 1978, and i realized that i wanted toto live as a musician, to to pursue my music. Um, i had to continue my studies and at that time it wasnt possible to do that in iran, because the universities, um, closed down, with that major change in the society called a cultural revolution. [crowd chanting] some would say the music is going to, maybe, be banned. You know, there were rumors about that. So i decided to do that elsewhere. You know, italy, canada, where iti studi music, and then new york and all those countries. And one thing led to another, and i got more serious in what i did. Uh, i got solo shows, i started to present myself as a musician, you know, somebody liked my music. Its always like that, it just grows. [playing kamancheh] the instrument kamancheh, in musicological terms, they call it spike fiddle. [speaking in farsi] what you do on kamancheh, unlike, uh, you know, many handheld, uh, fiddles in western culture, youyou hold the instrument with your left hand, and you turn it, and thethethe right hand just bows in one direction, but the instrument has to turn, uh, to enable you toto access different strings. [playing scales] so thisthis makes, um, the left hand in kamancheh kind of unstable, you know, to use, because, um, you hold the instrument, you finger and you turn the instrument. So the left hand does three different things. [speaking in farsi] one can control the tension of the bow with the right hand fingers and, uh, when you want less sound, the hair is looser, and then, at the same time, you can pull it more and get more sound out of it. As i grew with kamancheh, you know, thisthis love for thatthat kind of sound grows more and more and more as i age. So its a very special and soulful sound for me that, uh, helps me go through different stages in my life. [string instruments playing] the piece that im rehearsing with the silk road ensemble is called blue as turquoise night of nayshabur. I wrote the piece because i was commissioned to write a piece for the silk road ensemble. [string instruments playing] that was one of the pieces that got, uh, i would say most played. Uh, you know, inininin in tours and during the concerts and things like that. I think it was, uh, 1999 that iyou know, i met yoyo. He was interested to know about kamancheh and my music, and i shared a concerto with him. And this relationship, um, turned into a friendship, and and, you know, it goes on until today and what what were doing musically. Ii think everybody in the ensemble, whatever they do, whatever they play, i think that interaction that we had changed our perception, and it helps us to to create music with probably more sensitivity. Itsits actually very simple. When you think, oh, it should be out of tune, youre not in the music. But if you start to say, this is beautiful, youre actually in the music. You are. Right . Thatsthats, and. Ive always played out of tune, so this came very naturally to me. [laughing] [playing persian music] [speaking farsi] i think that was the main reason that i went back to to be with them, tomaybe to teach. The old way is, uh, very much like indian style. You know, you have a teacher or guru, you have a master or ustad, thats what we call it, you basically spend a lotf time with, ansometimes, you know, they become like, uh, father and son. [playing kamancheh] [speaking in farsi] [playing kamancheh] [speaking in farsi] [speaking in farsi] improvisation is probably the essence, the core of persian music, and we all learn pieces, uh, melodies to be able to improvise based on those melodies. [speaking in farsi] [humming] a musician is valued, uh, by the wathey improvise and thethe way they they get actually further and further fromfrom that point of starting. [speaking in farsi] there is a teacher figure in everybodys life, and i hope i can be that for some people. Not just teaching them ins you know, the instrument and some music, iii like to affect their lives, uh, in a way that, uh, they dont forget me, and they dont forget what they learned from me. [playing kamancheh] my work can be divided in several fferent lines i do my solos, i have formed a couple of, uh, ensembles, one called dastan ensemble. We formed it about 20 years ago when i was in canada. And then, uh, we formed this ensemble called masters of persian music. [playing music and singing] with two ve wellknown musicians of todays iran, and one younger musician, including, uh, myself. So it was a quartet, very successful, toured for seven years. [playing music and singing] i founded a small ensemble called ghazal, with Shujaat Hussein khan and swapan chaudhuri. [music] you know, ii have been trying to do different kinds of music, so, um, because i think the music has to be, uh, fresh for myself first toto be attractive for others as well. [music] the brooklyn rider is a string quartet. Theyre brilliant musicians, they understand music in a superb way, and i have always enjoyed to play with them. And theyre active, uh, as, uh, a part of the silk road ensemble as well, so we tour together, and were trying to develop more new music to play together. [string music playing] i think the best place for me to live at the moment, and have my base is iran, because i always felt that i missed something when i was outside all these years, and then suddenly youre 37, and[laughs] oh you know, where am i . You know, im a musician, but i dont have anything else in my life. [laughing] [speaking in farsi] i live in a suburb called, uh, karaj, 30 kilometers from tehran. I live there with my wife. [speaking in farsi] hmm, kind of, nie and bring life. [laughs] culture in general educates people, and, en enlightens people to know more, to become, uh, more familiar with their rights, and demanding that from, you know, the authorities, whomever it is in their own parts of the world, and, um, to not settle for less when they can actually settle for more. But in our society, because of the political system and the political changes, especially in the last 30 years, uh, the role of culture has been kind of forgotten and not really well respected. Im not very fond of playing in tehran right now, because, um, its kind of difficult to you know, for getting permissions, things like that, and i dont think its time for music. Its time for musicians to be a part of the population and be there with them. Uh, living in iran, there is no choice, but, um, becoming political. Its nice to be here at this moment, especially now that were experiencing these social changes, i hope for the good. Sometimes its hard to see that, because young people are involved in it, and they sacrifice a lot, and sometimes they sacrifice their lives. The whole society wants to change what they have, and how this change takes place is very important. I want to live here while it happens. I want to be a part of it. [kamancheh playing] [tombak playing] can you cut the rigger andand do you have a preshow ritual . Something that you normally do, or. Not really. Try to, um, talk less. Try to think of nothing andand just make my mind really blank. [laughs] as much as thats possible. Do you have a prayer . Do you have. . Prayer, yes i have it, buii do it on stage. Its nice to remind myself why im doing this, thats all. You know. I think that that lifts me spiritually. And then bring it back in, please. Well, were calling this, uh, songs of hope, because i think primarily this is what we need in this world. Uh, we need a lot of hope and a lot of luck. [chuckles] i dedicate tonights performance to the people of iran their perseverance in these extraordinary times, their vision for a better world, and their dedication to justice. [music playing] what i do usually in my solo concerts is, uh, that iii start from somewhere and depart from that point, andand try to make a progress, and what comes next, i cant control. [playing kamancheh] its not up to you to decide, you know, sometimes you want to go, uh, to a direction in your mind. Before the show, you think about it, but it never happens. You know, my record on that is 100 , so. [laughs] its very difficult. You just go as your imagination takes you. The objective for me is to forget about everything, to get that area that i cant think, and iim not there, but somebody else is playing. As a professional musician, it is my duty to to play in concerts. Familiarizing people with music, culture, its going to help people to think about iran, and tototo maybe help iranians to achieve what theyre after. [applause] a huge number of the young generation of iran whlove his music. And its important for them that a guy like him is supporting the movement. Hes a role model in that way, sort of makes me want to respond as well. And i understand its very hard for him, because he lives in iran, and he cant make an official statement, and thats okay, because through the music, and through very indirect peaceful ways, uh, we get all the support we need, and thats plenty already. [indistinct chatter] we have to come to our senses and really think hard that we need peace, we newe need love, we need music, we need culture, and, uh, we need people to to spread that out. Announcer funding for the kcet fine cut festival of films is generously provided by the bridges Larson Foundation and by the National Endowment for the ar, on the web at arts. Gov
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