Tickets

Farhang Foundation and the New West Symphony
present

HAMED NIKPAY

at the

NEW WEST SUMMERFEST 2023

Moorpark College

Sunday June 25, 2023

Experience the inaugural New West Summerfest, an open–air, two-day music festival featuring exceptional performances by Grammy-winning and Billboard-charting artists spanning diverse genres including Jazz, Country, Classic Rock, Mariachi, Iranian, and more. 

Schedule

3 PM: Gates Open + Jam with Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea
4:30 PM: Unbelievable variety with Renaissance Heart featuring Shea Welsh, Hila Plitmann, Ahmet Turkmenoglu, Euro Zambrano and Eru Matsumoto
6:00 PM: Master of modern Iranian music Hamed Nikpay and guests
7:30 PM: Raiders of the Lost Ark with New West Symphony, Michael Christie, conductor

Read about the full weekend line-up

About Hamed Nikpay

A fusion vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter, Hamed Nikpay has been a pioneering artist for over two decades, innovating far-reaching music beyond its time. He transcends all musical boundaries and stealthily imbues the classical Iranian melodies artfully with beats and sounds of other complementing genres, thus enriching the quality of his music. And, as a student of rich Persian poetry, he intertwines his music with lyrics he incisively chooses from among the vast body of Ancient and contemporary Iranian poets, thus creating a soulful genre unique all to himself. He calls it “Sufi Funk,” denoting East and West in harmony. So, as you listen to his music, you may hear an Iranian ballad with Rumi’s mystical poems in Bossa Nova, a verse of a modernist poet in Mystical Flamenco, or metaphysical poetry of the thirteen-century poet Hafez in a melody that ingrains classical Iranian music with Argentinian Tango. All along, infusing these creations with the Iranian regional folkloric music that is soul-southing and heart-moving. His ensemble consists of an eclectic group of musicians worldwide, playing instruments embedded in the East and the West. 

In addition to performing in concerts around the world and producing a slew of albums and single tracks, Hamed has close ties with the movie industry performing both instrumental and vocal pieces in Hollywood films and TV series produced by Disney, Universal Studios, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Marvel, Games, and others. An ardent promoter of peace in his homeland and worldwide, he was nominated the “Peace Musician” of the Year by the U.S. State Department in 2011.

When Hamed is not performing live, he extends his talent to areas requiring skills in skills other than performance. For example, in 2016 and 2017, he participated in the talent show -- the Iranian X Factor, and as one of the four judges, he led the winning team as the producer in the 2016 show. Likewise, in 2022, he hosted the first-ever World Wide talent show, “The Voice of Persia,” trying his interest in showmanship by running and managing the judges and the participating talents in the front.

In 2021, Hamed founded his non-profit organization “Zang Records Inc” to search for and promote mainly young unknown artists with exceptional talents from all corners of Iran who had created music not ever heard in public or not allowed to be heard by the Islamic Republic regime. His thorough search to discover and reach out to these exceptional talents resulted in streaming the musical work of more than thousands of artists, without whose persevering efforts, he would not have had the opportunity to achieve a global audience.

Learn more about HAMED NIKPAY on Instagram.

About the New West Symphony

The New West Symphony inspires passion for symphonic music through live performances and education initiatives that engage and enrich our diverse audiences.

The New West Symphony orchestra includes some of the world’s most famous and accomplished musicians, led by GRAMMY®-winning music director Michael Christie. The Symphony's tenured members have appeared as soloists with the finest orchestras, are GRAMMY®-nominated artists themselves, and can be heard on almost any film soundtrack you can imagine, from Jurassic Park and Star Wars to La La Land. New West Symphony performs exceptional music, exceptionally close and is based in Thousand Oaks, California. Learn more about the NEW WEST SYMPHONY by visiting NewWestSymphony.org