Celebrating 20 Years of Harmony Talk’s Journey: Resilience, Evolution, Honoring the Legacy and Navigating Future Growth

In a momentous celebration of two decades, the “Arasbaran Cultural Center” was the stage for the 20th anniversary of “Harmony Talk”, an online journal that has become a cornerstone in the music community. Sadjad Pourghanad, the editor-in-chief, delivered a speech that resonated with gratitude and vision.

Pourghanad began by honoring Kamran Vatanabadi, the founder of Harmony Talk, whose foresight in establishing wireless internet in Iran has been pivotal. Vatanabadi’s legacy is immortalized through Harmony Talk, which continues to thrive under his guidance.

The journey from Vatanabadi’s 100-day music blog to a comprehensive website was a collaborative effort, supported by a dedicated team of writers and translators, and financially backed by Datak internet company.

Pourghannad highlighted the seven years under Kamran Vatanabadi and Babak Arshad’s leadership, as Harmony Talk’s most prosperous period. Despite the content being primarily aimed at the general public at that time, there was a wide range of topics covered.

The first Harmony Talk crisis occurred in 2011 when Datak’s financial support was cut off, but fortunately, all the original writers of the site agreed to continue their collaboration on an honorary basis. However, since then, there has been a noticeable decline in the number of articles “exclusively” written for Harmony Talk.

During this period, the journal gradually moved towards more specialized content because elementary music education articles had mostly been published in the early period and it was necessary to take further steps.

Today, there are university students who have had Harmony Talk in their lives since they were born and have been reading the journal since they started music. Now, Harmony Talk is an integral part of many academic researches, with its articles frequently cited in music theses.

Numerous plans and designs were presented during that period and when Datak’s support was cut off in the last 13 years, very few of them were realized.

The main reason for this was a lack of financial and human resources interested in this field.

Now that the number of active physical and online music magazines in the whole country is less than the digits of one hand and many were closed due to a lack of necessary supervision, this is where the importance of HarmonyTalk and its sustainability becomes more apparent.

The journal’s resilience is further highlighted by its extensive archive of over 70,000 articles.

The loss of two influential writers, Mohsen Ghaane’ Basiri and Khosro Jafarzadeh, is deeply felt, yet their contributions live on through Harmony Talk.

It’s important to recognize the hard work and determination of those involved, but it may also be necessary to explore new avenues for securing funding or attracting more expert staff to accelerate the growth and development of Harmony Talk.

Pourghanad explains: As we celebrate this milestone, we acknowledge the challenges ahead. The financial sustainability of Harmony Talk relies on the personal income of its directors and the voluntary efforts of its staff. This have limited the site’s ability to expand and progress as quickly as desired. Yet, this has not stalled the site’s growth or its commitment to providing valuable content to its readers.

In closing, Pourghanad’s speech was a tribute to Harmony Talk’s past achievements and a hopeful look towards its future.

It is a reminder that while change is inevitable, the essence of Harmony Talk will continue to inspire and inform for years to come.

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Farhad Poupel: The Voice of the Shahnameh in the Orchestras Around the World

In an era when almost no trace of contemporary Iranian music can be heard in international concert halls, except (so-called!) avant-garde works that owe their existence solely to the fashionable slogans of the “pseudo-intellectual” crowd who have seized the already meager resources for performing classical music from the true artists of the field, the numerous performances of Farhad Poupel’s works shine as a ray of hope for lovers of sincere musical art. Without resorting to trendy slogans, he has kept the flame of Iranian classical music alive purely through the power of his artistry.

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.

From Past Days…

Motherland Orchestra Broke the Spell of the Covid-19 Restrictions

The Motherland Orchestra staged the first concert since the outbreak of the pandemic under the baton of Nezhat Amiri. The orchestra went on stage on December 23-24, 2021 in memory of Rouhollah Khaleghi and Golnoush Khaleghi at Vahdat Hall, Tehran, Iran. Since the pandemic outbreak, concerts were held online and restrictions were imposed on in-person concerts.

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.

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…
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The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (II)

With its simple physical structure and captivating sound, the Daf never belonged to a particular culture or location, and every nation had different usages for this instrument considering their dominant customs and traditions.

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.

Principles of Playing Violin (VI)

B. applying force: the force needed for putting finger on finger board is applied through finger tips and using the rest of hand set especially wrist is not allowed. To practice this, it is possible to hold violin without the bow and throw the fingers on the finger board from 1-2cm distance; apply force only through finger tips.

Principles of Playing Violin (V)

3/1/2/5: When the first finger lands next to the nut, continuation of first phalange of this finger, on back of the hand, should be in line with continuation of the back of the wrist and the left hand; moreover, it should not pass them and bend at knuckles. Otherwise, an uncommon stretch is created in first finger’s knuckle also reducing the freedom of other fingers (especially the fourth finger) in finger placement.

History’s Impact on Evaluating a Work of Art

With this description, we have automatically included a criterion called “History”, Until we know the time of the creation of a work of art, we cannot judge whether it has been easy to create or not. Suppose that, in a historical study, we find a musical work that is similar in compositional techniques (including form, melody, context, and orchestration) to a minor work of the nineteenth century; however, our research proves that, this work dates back to 200 years prior to that date. Can we still consider this work insignificant? Definitely not! So this is where the first use of history-based judgment comes into play.

A Look at Ali Tajvidi’s Manifold Musical Activities (I)

Ali Tajvidi (1920 – 2004), one of the most prominent Iranian musicians, passed away sixteen years ago. He was one of the most distinguished Iranian artists. To specify one of the fields in which he was unique, one can refer to Tasnif composition. A brief review of his manifold musical activities is presented below.