A Miracle in the Iranian Music: About Tehran Flute Choir’s Eight-year Tenacity

Translated by Mahboube Khalvati

Tehran Flute Choir is a 40-member orchestra of Iran’s best flutists; Iran’s best flutists? Yes! If you write down the names of the greatest Iranian flute players who participate at concerts and contribute to academic centers in Iran, you will see that most of them are among the choir’s members.
So, what makes Tehran Flute Choir’s eight-year activity exceptional? It needs some familiarity with the Iranian “orchestra culture” to be able to understand that the founders of Tehran Flute Choir, Firouzeh Navai and Saeed Taghadosi, have done an exceptionally great job in keeping this orchestra going. A choir consisting of the best Iranian flutists who not only work together very well through the choirs’ demanding disciplines (without letting personal and professional disagreements to interrupt their collaboration) but also serve as sponsors to ensure the continued work of the team. Well, these conditions might not only seem illogical and unappealing to Iranian musicians but also to musicians from materially and spiritually richer countries. But, Tehran Flute Choir is an exception!
Eight years ago, two international artists, Firouzeh Navai and her husband, Saeed Taghadosi, who had the experience of teaching and playing flute in European choirs as well as conducting them, approached me with the idea of establishing a flute choir. I considered it impossible unless pre-requisites such as recruiting flutists younger than twenty years of age with little experience, specified finances, etc. were met.
However, the presence of three people who were really the embodiment of humanity and commitment to the art of music changed the story in a different way; Dr. Azin Movahed, the founder of the Iranian Flute Association (a maestro, an experienced and successful professor of flute and classical music theory, and of course a national figure who is well respected by Iran lovers), together with Saeed Taghodsi and Firouze Navai, with a profound knowledge of music and exemplary humbleness gathered together a group of Iranian flutists and established a flute choir of which the Iranian classical music society is rightly proud.

Firouzeh Navai, who was offering a master-class for flutists, taught me a very beautiful lesson in the first meeting of Tehran Flute Choir; “if no one is interested in playing the bass flute, I will do it. Otherwise, I will offer refreshments to you during rehearsals; after all, you need someone to serve you and to clean the rehearsal hall …”, Navai humbly said. These remarks were in no way Ta’arof but a characteristic which the choir’s veteran musicians have.
This year, Tehran Flute Choir celebrated its 8th birthday with a record of important domestic and international performances. Tehran Flute Choir proved that one can dearly love music and cherish humanity while remaining professional.

Post a Comment

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

A brief examination of Ardavan Kamkar’s Santour playing style

I still think of those fish in a crystal bowl for the Haft sin table and those disappointed old men who went out to sell blackfish.

Lilly Afshar, Iranian Guitar Legend, passed away

The text you are reading is about Hamed Fathi, a guitarist and one of Lilly Afshar’s students, which was previously published on the Persian website HarmonyTalk.com:

From Past Days…

From the Last Instrumentalist to the First Composer (II)

Rouhollah Khaleghi was the master of composing beautiful melodies. He was the premier of the course of history which was first established by Ali Naghi Vaziri and which improved the Iranian music from simply a gathering music to the classical music of the country. First efforts to compose independent and instrumental music can be also traced in Khaleghi’s works.

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.

Harmony in the Iranian Music (I)

Translated by Mahboube Khalvati The article you are about to read was written by Rouhollah Khaleqi (1906-1965), composer, and conductor of Golha Orchestra (established in 1956). Khaleqi was one of the most prominent promoters of polyphony for the Iranian music and is one of the best representatives of the school of Ali Naghi Vaziri. In…
Read More »

New Technique for Playing Classical Guitar (I)

Joint application of the two techniques of “Lip” and “Nose” could be effectively applied for hearing and playing far-away intervals, by the Classical Guitar. Before this, a Classical Guitar player had to waive playing intervals not possible with the left hand, and had to replace or eliminate some notes, making it possible to play such intervals; specifically the capability of the left hand of the musician, was also a factor in such a selection. These methods are hereby illustrated by photographs and a video-file, in order to provide optimum comprehension of applying these methods, invented by the author; specifically the “Lip” technique, which is considered to be a more significant technique, emphasized by the author.

Persian Music: “Mahour the Great” in Austria

In 1990  an Austria-based Persian musician Khosro Soltani, in cooperation with Hossein Alizadeh, put out an album entitled, Ancient Call A New (Nobang-e Kohan). After many years, a few ancient Persian instruments such as Sorna, Karna, Naghareh,etc. have been used, instruments which have been left out of the circle of Persian classical musical instruments for centuries.

Behzad Abdi’s opera Rumi was physically released by Naxos

Composing a traditional Iranian opera using the Iranian modal system, dastgāh, has always been my dream. I first approached this by composing an opera called Ashura followed by the operas Rumi and Hafez. I believe that in order to attract an international audience for Iranian opera, it is essential to fuse dastgāh with Western classical forms.

A year without Mohsen Ghanebasiri

The year 1396 (21 March 2017-20 March 2018) was the most sorrowful year for HarmonyTalk journal. One month after holding HarmonyTalk’s 13th establishment anniversary in Mohsen Ghanebasiri’s house in Tehran in April 2017, he untimely passed away. Mohsen Ghanebasiri was the prominent HarmonyTalk author.

Shaahin Mohajeri Wins UnTwelve Composition Competition

UnTwelve Non-profit Organization announced the results of its 2014/2015 composition competition on January 28, 2015. Shaahin Mohajeri, an Iranian Tonbak player, microtonalist, acoustician and composer, was awarded the second prize for his piece “Castle of Babak.”

Three singers in one larynx

Sima Bina (b. 1945) is a unique singer among the singers of Golha radio programmes which were broadcast on Iranian National Radio for 23 years from 1956 to 1979. She received her first lessons in music from her father who was a poet, a musician and the most important supporter of Sima’s cultural activities.

Principles of Violin Playing (X)

Creating sound continuity between two notes in the source and destination positions when left hand position changes and “two different finger numbers” are involved is called portamento. Portamento can be performed on single string or two neighboring strings and with hand moving on fingerboard either upward or downward.