Rouhollah Khaleghi Artistic Center established in Washington DC

Golnoush Khaleghi (1941-2021), a Washington-based Persian musician and the daughter of the contemporary Persian (Iranian) composer and theoretician Rouhollah Khaleghi (1906-1965) founded a musical center called RKAC to keep the name and the work of her father alive.

Rouhollah Khaleghi founded Persian National Music Conservatory [Honarestaan-e Musighi-e Melli) in 1949 in Tehran. He was the chief editor of Chang and Payaam-e Novin magazines and conducted the Tehran’s Radio “Gol-ha Orchestra” for several years. Among his most famous theoretical works are a three volume book entitled “History of the Persian Music” [Sargozasht-e Musighi-e Iran] and the popular anthem-like song ‘O Persia’ [Ey Iran] .

Graduated from Tehran Conservatory and Wisconsin University, Golnoush Khaleghi conducted the National Iranian Radio and TV’s Choir called “Ham-Avaazaan” from 1974 to 1978. After the 1979 revolution, she immigrated to America and together with 25 Persian and American musicians, she founded an orchestra under the name of her father in 1985. In addition to the performance of works by Rouhollah Khaleghi, this orchestra performed pieces by other famous Persian (Iranian) composer such as Alinaghi Vaziri, Morteza Mahjoubi and Hossein Dehla! vi in New York and Washington DC until 1990 when it had to stop its activity due to the lack of financial support from cultural institutes (whether Persian or American).

Apparently, Rouhollah Khaleghi had told his daughter before his death that ‘I aspire to enter a musical hall outside Persia one day and see that they are performing Persian music that is arranged in such a way to make it enjoyable even for non-Persian audience.’ According to Golnoush Khaleghi, her second motivation to establish the above orchestra was ‘to perform Persian Music during the time when musical activities came to an almost standstill in Iran due to religious limitations.’

Foundation of RKCA [Rouhollah Khaleghi Artistic Center] in fact the revival of the same organization that was active only in the form of a chamber orchestra.

The establishment of a website on the artistic activities and works of Rouhollah Khaleghi is one of the major activities of RKAC. Reproduction of his works on CDs, performance of concerts and offering scholarship to talented Persian (Iranian) students to study Music are among other activities of this center. In addition to introduction of R. Khaleghi’s works, the other major goal of RKAC is to encourage Persian youth to study music, particularly those who live abroad and are therefore unfamiliar with Persian culture.

***

HarmonyTalk

Golnoush Khaleghi published two books entitled Ey Iran: Memorial volume of Ruhollah Khaleghi (Mahoor Institute Publications, 2006) and Rouhollah Khaleghi’s Compositions & Arrangements (Mahoor Institute Publications, 2019) in Iran. She also published R. Khaleghi’s sheet music collection with Roudaki and Nogan publications.

 

Post a Comment

Required fields are marked *
*
*
Your email is never shared.

Five Major Myths About Mozart’s Life

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the renowned Austrian composer, is undoubtedly one of the greatest geniuses in the history of classical music. However, his life is surrounded by numerous myths and legends, some of which are not based on facts. This article explores five of the most common misconceptions about Mozart’s life.

Bahma Rajabi Passed Away!

Bahman Rajabi, the renowned tonbak (Persian goblet drum) player and educator, passed away at his home at the age of 86 due to a heart condition. He was the founder of a distinctive school of tonbak playing, and his teaching methods have been widely used by instructors of the instrument for decades..

From Past Days…

The Role of Arts in Development of Societies

Mr. Mohsen Ghanebasiri, author and critic in the field of economy, culture and arts, as the next speaker, highlighted the role of arts, specially the music, in development of societies: “As far as the individual upbringing is concerned, a newborn baby is absolutely dependent. The relation between the baby and the parents is based on orders. There is lots of relativity in these orders; therefore, they are political orders. In the economy, however, the relations are mutual and based on common logic; hence, the formation of the concepts of democracy and individuality.

Payam Taghadossi: Talented Iranian-Austrian Cellist

Payam Taghadossi (born in 1989) started his musical education at the age of 4 years with Monika Scherbaum in Bregenz (Austria). At the Conservatory Feldkirch he joined the class of Imke Frank and Martin Merker. Later he studied in Zurich (Switzerland) with Thomas Grossenbacher and Christian Proske, where he 2011 graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance. Two years later as the student of Rafael Rosenfeld he received his Master of Arts in Music Performance diploma and later graduated as a Master of Arts in spezialized Music Performance in 2016 from the Hochschule für Musik Basel FHNW.

Principles of Violin Playing (VIII)

1.5.1.3.sometimes, a player, due to different reasons, may decisively want to play continuously two notes with a half-step by means of the same finger, in such a case, it’s necessary to open the interior curve of the finger like a spring. Naturally coming back, the curve of finger should be closed and the finger should become curved shape again (see paragraph 3.1.2.1).

The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (VII)

Conclusion

“Daf” is one of type of percussion instruments that has a long history and is commonly known as circular instruments (with a rim). In some tribes, Daf was used as the main instrument in festivity and joy ceremonies; in another tribe it was used as the main instrument for war and campaign ceremonies and some others used it for ritual and religious ceremonies.

Interview with Farhad Poupel (II)

Fantasia on One Note was my first professional work for piano, which had its world premiere by the great pianist Peter Jablonski in Sweden, and it has been performed by various pianists in the UK, Germany, France, and the Czech Republic. The recording of this work has also been broadcast on the Dutch public radio, NPR Radio 4.

“Guitar Memories” Released

The album “Guitar Memories” consists of the performance of baroque to recent era masterpieces, by Mehrdad Mahdavi, and is published by Tanin-e Honar Publication.

In this album there are pieces composed and arranged by artists such as: Sylvius Leopold Weiss, Johann Anton Logy, Fernando Sor, Yuquijiro Yocoh, Leo Brouwer.

Inefficiency of some chords and harmonization systems in Iranian music

Discussions and research have been conducted on the harmonization of “dastgah” and melodies in Iranian music, and several books have been published on this topic, including “Armenian Music of Iran” by Ali Naghi Vaziri, “Harmony of Iranian Music” by Farhad Fakhreddini, and “Harmony of Iranian Music” by Ali Ghamssari. A master’s thesis titled “Presenting a Solution for Harmonizing Based on the Structure of Tritone Intervals” was written by Atefeh EinAli in 2014. Additionally, the invention and use of “Even Harmony” by Morteza Hannaneh should be mentioned.

Reza Vohdani; Unveiling unpublished works, preservation of Iranian classical music

Reza Vohdani is a renowned name among tar (traditional Iranian instrument) players, especially within the Iranian music community that values the meticulous practice and teaching of traditional music. While Vohdani honed his skills in music theory and tar playing under the guidance of masters like Ali-Naghi Vaziri, Ali-Akbar Shahnazi, Hossein Dehlavi, and Ahmad Forutan-Rad, it is his unwavering dedication to studying, documenting, and teaching the Iranian classical music repertoire that has solidified his prominence in the field. Recently, Vohdani’s family decided to make his preserved works accessible to the wider art and music community. In this regard, The Persian-language newspaper ‘Iran’ spoke with Sadjad Pourghanad, a musician, university instructor, and music researcher, who shared his opinion into the project, as detailed in the interview below.

Principles of Violin Playing (II)

Since for playing violin, it’s necessary that the player’s palms and fingers be inclined toward the fingerboard, therefore, the player, while bringing up his hand, should turn it toward the fingerboard.

Harmony in the Iranian Music (II)

One of his works was the translation of Harmony, which was carried out with the help of Mozayyan al-Dowleh, and included a pamphlet based on which he used to teach the subject to the students of the school of music; the pamphlet was never published. It was, in fact, a kind of simple harmony for the piano with no quadriads, it rather featured the engagement of both the right hand and the left hand which was being taught at the music school for the first time. Salar-Mo’azez also composed military marches and hymns for schools, which he harmonized to be performed and piano. Likewise, he used to compose for military orchestras.