Fereydoon Farahani

Teaching Iranian music morphology and history, Iranian melody, and instruments such as Setar and Bağlama at MelalePersian Educational Institute

Researcher, author, university professor
Singer, composer, songwriter, player
Architect, urban designer

About Fereydoun Farahani

• Born in October, 1975
• Head of the music department and instructor at the Melal Persian International Educational Institute
• Professor of urban design and architecture at Pars Higher Education Institute of Art and Architecture in Tehran and Isfahan University of Art
• Teaching Setar and Bağlama instruments, and singing at Vaziri and Navahang institutes in Tehran and Ava institute in Isfahan
• Member of the editorial boards at the Weekly Journal Sobhe Andishe and specialized journals of Honarnama, Memar, and Eyvan Khesht Khane.

Education

• PhD researcher in urban design at the Islamic Azad University of Tabriz
• Graduate of consecutive master’s degree in architecture from Tehran University of Art (Isfahan Pardis Faculty)
• High school education in Mathematics in the National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents (SAMPAD) school in Arak

Learning Music and Poetry

• Started his artistic activities from a young age in the Center for the Intellectual Development of Children and Adolescents in Arak
• Studied poetry and literature under the tutelage of the late master Dr Alireza Maghami in the literary societies of Arak (1988-1990)
• Studied music theoretical foundations under Kamran Anari, and fundamentals of playing Santoor and then Setar under Naser Shafaei, in Arak (1990-1993)
• Studied Iranian songs under masters Ali Asghar Shahzeydi, Mansour Azami Kia, and Ghasem Memarzade (1994-1999)
• Studied playing the Bağlama under Dr Babak Sharifi (2001-2006) and Jamal Kheyrieh in Sanandaj (1998)
• Studied harmony, solfège, analytical history and fundamentals of music under AmirHossein Eslami and the late Hamed Mohajer (2005)

Education and Research

• Teaching art, urban design, and architecture at university, since 2005
• Teaching music theory and practice: song and signing Tasnif, and Setar and Bağlama instruments, since 1996
• Research activities in the form of authoring specialized and analytic articles, lectures, summits and seminars in the fields of art, music, architecture, and urban engineering

Concerts, Radio and TV Programs

Founder of the Hagh Jouyan music group (1999), which held concerts in Iran and other countries until 2006; cover songs did not play an important role in these concerts. The main repertoire for these concerts was the songs and compositions of Fereydoun Farahani, which was also a modern narrative of Iranian folk music (with a special focus on the west and northwest parts of Iran).

•  His Most Important Concerts
  As singer, composer, songwriter, and player

1.  Isfahan national orchestra (conductor Morteza Shafei), Isfahan University of Art, Tohidkhaneh Safavid House (2015)
2. Iranian Club of Dubai (May 2005)
3. Mountain Riverside Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand (Nowruz 2005)
4. Big concerts of Hagh Jouyan music group in Isfahan and other cities (2000, 2001, 2002)
5. Playing a duet titled “Ghoghaye Shargh” (uproar of the east) with Darshan Jut Singh Anand (Indian Tabla player) in Quds cinema, Isfahan, and Ehsan amphitheater in Shiraz (2004)
6. Concert in Iran cinema, Isfahan (2006)
7. Accompanying Bahar group (led by Saeid Mazdak), Khorshid art hall in Isfahan (2015)
8. Accompanying Ilya mystic music group (led by Ali Kavian), Isfahan central library amphitheatre (2015)
9. Etc.

• As Bağlama player

1. Accompanied by master Ali Asghar Shahzeydi, Farshchian Cultural and Art Complex, Isfahan (2008, 2009)
2. Accompanying Rooh Afza mystic music group (led by Ali Asghar Rahimi), Khorshid art hall in Isfahan (1999)

• Radio and Television

1. Songwriting for several movies and TV series, documentaries, and docufictions, mostly on the subject of architecture and historical monuments (1997-2006)
2. Songwriting for advertisement clips and teasers (2001-2006)
3. Cultural discussions and providing music pieces on various programs of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting; including Farhang radio, Goftegoo, Fasli, Markazi and Hormozgan radio stations, etc.

Most Prominent Published Works

•  Music Albums:

1. Audio album Khosh Basho Bi Man Bash (be joyful and be without me), as singer, composer, songwriter, and player of Bağlama and Setar, Navaye Mehr Sepahan institute (2018)
2. Video album of teaching Bağlama (the first Persian tutorial for Bağlama), Loh Gostaresh Donyaye Narm Afzar institute (2008)
3. Video album of teaching songs and singing Tasnif, Loh Gostaresh Donyaye Narm Afzar institute (2008)
4. Video album of teaching Setar, Loh Gostaresh Donyaye Narm Afzar institute (2008)
5. Video album of teaching Setar based on the book of music school, Rayan Pars Institute (2006)
6. Video album of songs and singing Tasnif, Rayan Pars Institute (2006)
7. Songwriter on the audio album Dar In Shabhaye Barani (on these rainy nights) (composer: Masoud Tadayyoni, singer: Saeid Salehi)
8. Playing Bağlama on the audio albums of Tamoom Shod (it’s over) and Tiami 1 (composer: Farnaz Shahzeydi), Navaye No (new tune) (musical improvisation, with the help of Ali Salehi)

• Books:

• Music:

1. How to Acquire Setar, elementary course, Gofteman Andishe Moaser (2018)
2. Bağlama; An Instrument to Know All Over Again, with the collaboration of Babak Sharifi, the Cultural Organization of Isfahan Municipality (2005)

• Art, Architecture, and Urban Engineering:

1. Birth of a City, thirty articles on the topic of city and urban space, Gofteman Andishe Moaser (2017)
2. Identity and Contemporary Western Architecture (from the industrial revolution to postmodernism in four articles), Gofteman Andishe Moaser (2016)
3. An Approach to the Spirit of Space (sketches, designs, and text), Danesh Pazhouhan Barin (2012)
4. Human, Nature, Design, Representation of Nature in Art and Architecture, Gofteman Andishe Moaser (2010)
5. Bastakiya Architecture, A Style Beyond Origin, Iran’s Architecture Pride-worthies Foundation (2021)
6. Sketches for the following books: Sa’di Ashegh (a selection of Ghazaliyat by Sa’adi) (2011) and Nagahan Eshgh (suddenly love) (story by Sahra) (2019), both by Gofteman Andishe Moaser