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…

Developments in Iranian Music Since Qajar Era (III)

Developments in Composing

Along with developments in the Iranian instruments, composition of the Iranian pieces developed as well. As a matter of fact, the developments of the two, mutually affected each other. In other words, instrumental developments led to developments in composition and vice versa.

Women and the Music Environment in Iran

The life territory of the female-male relations in the Iranian cultural context is basically a domestic territory and not a social-living one in the labour and leisure domains. To prove this, it only suffices to consider the Iranian men’s viewpoints about women. For the Iranian men, there are three perspectives regarding the women: mother, sister and wife. Mother represents the emotional territory; sister represents the logical territory at home while wife represents the sexual territory.

“Pledge of Love”

The “Pledge of Love” is the first album in a series composed based on the tasnifs by the renowned Iranian tasnif-maker Mohammad Ali Amir Jahed and recorded by Sahba Kohan Ensemble with Ramin Bahiraie as signer.

Principles of Violin Playing (IX)

4.3.1. To practice playing of doubles of notes involving two different fingers, each note is played at separate bows with slow tempo, each note is played perfectly regarding its bass and tenor sounds and then the considered double is played at another bow while considering the resulted sound of the double.

Music education in third-world countries

Music education in third-world countries is facing many problems that limit access to it and it’s full of challenges. These rising and falling obstacles are made of the socioeconomic, cultural educational systems, etc.

Developments in Iranian Music Since Qajar Era (II)

Santour:
Nine-bridge and twelve-bridge Sanours were both used until the early Pahlavi dynasty. However, as Faramarz Payvar devised new methods for playing the nine-bridge Sanour, this variety of the instrument which was hammered by felted sticks became popular.

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.

Davoud Pirnia (1900 - 1971)

About Davoud Pirnia, the founder of “Golha” radio program

Davoud Pirnia, writer and musicologist was the founder of “Golha” (Flowers of Persian Song and Music) programs on Tehran Radio (1956-1966). He received his early education from his father, Hassan Pirnia (Moshir al-Douleh), and several tutors of the time (Taraghi, interview, July 1989) and continued his studies at Saint Louis School in Tehran and then in Switzerland and graduated in law. While studying law, Pirnia got acquainted with European classical music. Upon returning to Iran, he was employed by the Ministry of Justice and founded the Lawyers’ Guild. Then he was transferred to the Ministry of Finance and established the Department of Statistics in this ministry. Later, he became the head of the state inspection office at the Prime Ministry; he was, then, promoted to the position of the Deputy Prime Minister (Navab Safa, interview, August 1999)

Qanun, a feminized instrument?

In the world music culture, there are instruments which were traditionally associated with a certain gender. It remains disputable to what extent these gender-based perceptions have been logical and scientific. For example, as playing wind instruments need more breath strength and the public opinion believe that men have stronger breath compared to women, these instruments are predominantly a male domain. Harp is also considered a female instrument as the public opinion believe that women have finer fingers and can therefore better perform nuances and delicate techniques on the instrument.

Polyphony in Iranian Music (V)

In addition to the above-mentioned, polyphony can be also formed when a melody is performed by several singers in different ambiances or different sound registers according to their physiologic abilities. An example of this has been performed in rituals of Khanqah of Ghaderi darawish of Mahabad[i].