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.

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.

Interview with Farhad Poupel (I)

Born in Isfahan, Iran, and based in the UK, Farhad Poupel’s music has been performed and will be performed in numerous prestigious concert halls and festivals throughout the world including Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan; La Roque-d’Anthéron Piano Festival, La Roque-d’Anthéron, France; Biarritz Festival, Biarritz, France; Stoller Hall, Manchester, UK; Janacek academy of music and performing art, Brno, Czech Republic; Karlskrona International Piano Festival, Karlskrona, Sweden; by distinguished artists such as Kotaro Fukuma, Peter Jablonski, Daniel Grimwood, Margaret Fingerhut, Catherine Carby, Kristýna Znamenáčková,Jeffrey Biegel, Jean-Francois Bouvery and orchestras such as Windsor Symphony Orchestra or broadcasted on the NPR Radio 4, Netherland. The following is an interview with him on the ocaasion of the premier of the Legend of Bijan and Manijeh.

From Past Days…

Interview with the Makers of the New Qeychak (III)

In this project, my specialized responsibility  was the basic drawings of the desired instrument with the help of engineering and mechanical software.  I have also the carried out phases related to engineering designs, related variables, and volume and weight calculations under Mr. Ziaei’s direct supervision from the very beginning. Regarding the challenges of this work, suffice it to say that the set of designs for the instrument lasted more than 9 months in the final stage of the project only.

Principles of Playing Violin (IV)

Principles of Playing Violin (IV)

Pattern No.3/1 Left hand finger Placement: 3/1/1: Landing Fingers on one String: In preliminary stages of training, an apprentice should pay attention to the principle of keeping fingers while placing them on the fingerboard. Professional violinists pay less attention to this principle. Novice player’s complying with this principle, in preliminary stages of training, has several…
Read More »

Prominent Iranian Musicologist Passes Away in Vienna

Khosrow Djafarzadeh, musicologist and architect, who was also one of the main authors of HarmonyTalk journal passed away on 15 July 2019.

The Mystery of Messiah

Antonio Stradivari (1644 – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and is considered the most significant and greatest artisan in this field.

“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.

Layla Ramezan, Iranian Pianist

Iranian pianist Layla Ramezan has always sought to create a connection between her Persian origin and the contemporary music which she encounters daily. Sound, phrasing, a particular sense of rhythm and a refined understanding of the “time of musical development” are the foremost qualities of her interpretations. Her musical and pianistic education began in Tehran at the age of 8 with Mostafa-Kamal Poortorab. Having moved to Paris and received a scholarship from Albert Roussel Foundation, she integrated the classes of Jean Micault and Devi Erlih at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot, where she received a Diplôme de Virtuosité in piano performance and chamber music.

Principles of Violin Playing (III)

Violin players should always pay attention to the proper position of the left thumb and other points related to it and to its joining point to the palm.

Principles of Violin Playing (VII)

4.3.1.3 Regarding the great linear distance and the unusual distance between the first and forth fingers, the first finger while playing the doubles of ninth and tenth interval, can be twisted in the knuckle area and the point mentioned in 3.1.2.5 paragraph in relation to the way first finger is placed indicating that the first joint of this finger in back of hand must be in line with the direction of forearm and left hand is not true here.

Principles of Violin Playing (I)

The present series of training articles, “Principles of Violin Playing”, seek to help students, to appropriately understand this field, by gradually introducing, categorizing, and teaching the myriad relevant points. One of the principles of playing violin, which must be always kept in mind, is that the selection of the most natural position for the body parts while playing is the best and most appropriate solution. As a matter of fact, any unnatural body part position which requires lots of energy or unusual stretching to maintain, is wrong.

Iranian Fallacies: Iranian Chords

Finding a way to harmonize the Iranian music has been the subject of controversy among Iranian musicians for a long time. Some believe in the creation of harmonies for Iranian music based on a method which is similar to the tierce harmony; while others have either selected or invented some other methods. There are also some musicians who do not basically agree with the harmonization of the Iranian music.