The Creative Process
in Making Song of the North
and Fictionville Studios
present
The Creative Process in Making
SONG OF THE NORTH
with
Hamid Rahmanian & Ramin Loga Torkian
In Conversation with Azam Ali
Farhang Foundation cordially invites you to join us in welcoming Hamid Rahmanian, the ingenious mind behind the groundbreaking new production, "SONG OF THE NORTH," and Ramin Loga Torkian, the composer of this captivating play. Together, they will share insights into their collaborative creative process that brought this remarkable production to life. Adding to the conversation will be Azam Ali, a renowned vocalist and composer who has also contributed her artistry to this latest project.
Experience the premiere of "SONG OF THE NORTH" on the Los Angeles stage at UCLA’s Freud Theatre from April 5th to 7th. For tickets and further information, please visit Farhang.org/Song.
Help support Farhang Foundation’s free programming!
About Hamid Rahmanian
Hamid Rahmanian is a 2014 John Guggenheim Fellow and the recipient of the 2020 United States Artists Fellowship. His work centers on theater, moving image, and graphic arts. His work has been exhibited in international competitions and publications. His films have screened at Venice, Sundance, Toronto, Tribeca, and IDFA film festivals and broadcast on PBS, Sundance Channel, IFC, Channel 4, BBC, DR2, and Al Jazeera.
Mr. Rahmanian undertook the immense task of illustrating and commissioning a new translation and adaptation of the tenth-century Persian epic poem Shahnamehby Ferdowsi, entitled Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings (2013). This best-selling 600-page art book, which the Wall Street Journal lauded as a “masterpiece,” is currently in its second edition (Liveright Publishing). In 2017, he released an immersive audiobook version of Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian King, with an introduction by Frances Ford Coppola. In 2018, he released a pop up book, entitled, Zahhak: The Legend of the Serpent King (Fantagraphics Books) in English and French which received the Meggendorfer Prize for the Best Pop Up Book and was hailed “Simply breathtaking” by Le Monde.
In 2014, Rahmanian shifted his focus to theater arts, working with shadows and digital media. To date, he has created five theater pieces: Zahhak: The Legend of the Serpent King (2014), Mina’s Dream (2016), commissioned by the Onassis Foundation), and UNIMA-USA award winning Feathers of Fire (2016) which toured in 23 cities around the world to an audience of over 100,000.
In 2019, he was commissioned by Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble to create a video animation for their new multimedia project, Heroes Take Their Stand. Mr. Rahmanian completed his latest stage production, Song of the North, which premiered at the Booklyn Academy of Music in 2022 and is currently touring around the world. His most recent project, the new pop up book, The Seven Trials of Rostam is now available.
Download Hamid's full biography
About Ramin Loga Torkian
Iranian born composer and multi-instrumentalist Loga Ramin Torkian is internationally recognized for his ground- breaking work with electronic/acoustic World Music groups Niyaz and previously Axiom Of Choice, both of which he co-founded. In 2014 Loga was nominated for a Canadian JUNO Award in the Category of “Best World Music Album” for the album he recorded with musical partner Azam Ali titled “Lamentation of Swans.” He continues to produce albums and tour worldwide with NIYAZ.
Born in Tehran, Iran and currently based in Los Angeles, Loga moved to the United States as a teenager after the Iranian Revolution. This major transition would fuel much of his musical and artistic expression in the years to come as he struggled to reconcile the bonds of tradition and culture with his own personal experiences. A highly gifted composer, Loga is greatly respected for his ability to adapt the Persian classical repertoire to his own unique and modern compositions. As a multi-instrumentalist Loga has always pushed to expand the sonic capabilities and range of Iranian music, believing that this could further widen the possibilities of his rich musical heritage and bring it into a modern platform. Loga is credited for creating the first ever quarter-tone Guitar with movable frets. In 2004, he worked closely with Jonathan Wilson a lutherian, to develop the Kamaan - a bowed acoustic instrument, which Jonathan specifically designed for him. Though Loga is skilled on a wide array of instruments such as the Lafta, Guitar, Djura etc., his main instruments are the Turkish Lafta, Kamaan and the Guitar Viol.
In 1992 Loga formed the music group Axiom of Choice, a project that garnered universal appeal due to the unique compositional structures and progressive sound. Loga produced three successful albums for Axiom of Choice on the Narada label & his pioneering sound has gone on to influence a enitre generation of Iranian Artists inside & outside Iran.
In 2005, along with vocalist Azam Ali, Loga founded the best-selling world music group Niyaz. Blending medieval Sufi poetry and folk songs from Iran, the Indian sub-continent and Turkey, rich acoustic instrumentation, with modern electronics, Niyaz created a 21st century global trance tradition. Since 2005 Loga continues to tour worldwide with Niyaz as part of the prestigious Performing Arts Series. Along with Azam they offer residencies at top universities in the country on various social/political topics as well as conducting master course classes in performing & composition of Iranian music. He has also conducted workshops at APAP and WAA for Performing Art presenters and educators.
In 2018 Loga and Azam were commissioned by Face Book to write your original compositions for Face Book Studio Sound Collection. They have written and produced over sixty tracks since then.
Aside from his personal artistic accomplishments, Loga’s talents as an instrumentalist and composer have become sought after by many renowned film composers in Hollywood such as Harry Gregson Williams, Hans Zimmer, Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna, Trevor Morris and Ramin Djawdi. His unique talents have been featured on many major film and Television scores which include “Body of Lies,” “Iron Man,” “Prince of Persia,” “Trespass,” “Tyrant,” “True Blood,” “Nip/Tuck,” “Missing,” and “Vikings.”
About Azam Ali
In a Career which spans three decades that include thirteen collaborative and solo albums, two prestigious Canadian JUNO Award nominations, one Hollywood Music Award, worldwide tours, and solo vocalist features in some of Hollywood’s biggest film and television soundtracks, Azam Ali has cemented her place as one of the most renowned and exceptionally gifted singers and composers on the international stage today. Her distinguished career has been defined by boldly defying genres and commercial expectations to heed her singular creative instincts which have earned her the respect of both her piers as well as music critics worldwide.
Born in Iran, raised in India and based in Los Angeles, Azam’s most notable work is with the ground-breaking global electronic/acoustic project Niyaz considered trailblazers in pioneering a new sound in contemporary world music in 2005, followed by the creation of their innovative immersive, multisensory show “The Fourth Light” in 2013 which has been presented in some of the most prestigious Performing Arts Centers worldwide and combines live musical and dance performance with interactive technologies. Today with four best-selling and critically acclaimed albums on Six Degrees Records, all of which have debuted at #1 on iTunes and garnered the band prominent media attention including features on NPR, the BBC, Billboard, Huffington Post and PRI, Niyaz continues to tour internationally.
Outside of her own creative guises, Azam has been an in-demand artistic force with a majestic and malleable musicality that’s been featured in a myriad of contexts from collaborations with famed artists such as Serj Tankian of System of a Down, Peter Murphy of Bauhaus, The Crystal Method, Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain etc., to some of Hollywood’s most eminent film composers such as Mychael Danna, Michael Giacchino, Brian Tyler, Ramin Djawadi, Michael Abels and Tyler Bates.
Azam’s otherworldly and distinctive voice can be heard on some of some of the biggest film and television scores among which include “Thor- The Dark World”, "Matrix- Revolutions", “John Wick 3 & 4”, “Prince of Persia- The Sands of Time”, “300”, “John Carter”, “The Fight Club”, "Children of Dune", “True Blood”, "Alias", "Prison Break.” She is also a well-known musical force in the videogame world. A cross section of titles she’s contributed to include “Uncharted 3,” “Call of Duty”, “Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands”, “Darksiders”, “Modern Warfare”, and “Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow” for which she won “Best Original Song” at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards in 2007.
