THE NAMÂD ENSEMBLE

Introducing an exclusive performance of

Behind the Gates

پشت دریچه ها

Based on the poetry of the great

Mohammad-Reza Shafiei Kadkani

NAMÂD ENSEMBLE

Pejman Hadadi: Tombak and percussion
Maboobeh Golzari: Vocals
Kourosh Taghavi: Setar and composition
Bashir Faramarzi: Santoor
Arzhang Rafei: Bamtâr
Saeed Kamjoo: Kamanche

Guest Performers
Behfar Bahadoran: Tar
Naser Sheikhzadegan Oud

Mix and mastering: Bashir Faramarzi

Behind these battened gates
پشت این دریچه های بسته
Wild winds blow their trumpets
بادهای هرزه سنج میزنند
War. جنگ
War is a merciless battalion
جنگ لشگری ست بی امان
Battle of the leaf against the autumn wind
جنگ برگ با خزان
War. جنگ
Battle of light against the darkness
جنگ روشنی و تیرگی ست
Battle of the clouds with the sky
جنگ ابر با آسمان
War, جنگ
Battle of death against life
جنگ مرگ و زندگی ست
Battle of the leaf against the autumn wind
جنگ برگ با خزان
Behind these small closed gates
پشت این دریچه های بسته
Wild winds blow their trumpets
بادهای هرزه سنج می زنند

Mohammad-Reza Shafiei Kadkani 1992
۱۳۷۱ محمد رضا شفیعی کدکنی

About the Artists

Pejman Hadadi

Pejman-Hadadi An internationally renowned percussionist, Pejman Hadadi is a proficient player of tombak and daf, the two drums of Iranian classical and folk music. For the past thirty years, he has taught traditional styles of tombak playing and the theory of Persian rhythmic cycles to students in the US, Europe, and Iran. He received the prestigious Durfee Foundation Master Musician Award twice for the dissemination and propagation of Iranian music in the U.S. Since 1999, Pejman has composed a large body of music for dance, which he has performed extensively in international festivals with renowned Iranian master musicians, dancers, and choreographers. Hadadi currently serves as a lecturer at UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music, as part of Farhang Foundation's Iranian Music program.

Mahboobeh Golzari

Mahboubeh-Golzari Mahboobeh Golzari is an Iranian classical Singer. She studied traditional Music and singing (Avaz) with various accomplished vocalists from Iran, such as MohammadReza Shajarian, MohammadReza Lotfi, Saeedeh Saeedi, Parisa, Mohsen Keramati, and Hossein Alizadeh.
Guest performances took her abroad - in 2017 she was performed in Vancouver with The Secrets Of Eternity and in 2018 in Melbourne with Face of Love.
She has also produced several recordings including Turtles Can Fly and Of Strings, Songs and Reed's Cry.

Bashir Faramarzi

Bashir-Faramarzi An Iranian musician, ethnomusicologist, and santoor player, born in Mashhad in 1982. He began learning the santoor at the age of 15. He received his bachelor's degree in music interpretation from the University of Tehran in 2006. He pursued his study in ethnomusicology in Paris. Bashir masters the traditional and contemporary schools of Persian santoor, and is inspired by their unique instrumental approach. He is also familiar with Central Asian musical traditions. He hads been teaching Iranian music and playing the dotâr for over a decade. He currently performs with the Astan Ensemble, which he founded in Montreal in 2013.

Behfar Bahadoran

Behfar-Baharorran Born In Tehran in 1987, Bahadoran studied under Iranian classical and folklore music masters including Homayoun Khorram, Ramin Rahimi, Ali-Akbar Moradi, Darioush Talaei, and Hamid Motebassem. A Visual Arts graduate from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and multidisciplinary visual artist. Founded the Pejvak Ensemble in 2008. Band leader and cofounder of Sorvad Ensemble. Bahadoran has worked and performed alongside acclaimed international musicians and artists such as Majid Derakhshani, Alireza Shahmohammadi, Pejman Hadadi, Pezhham Akhavass, Dawn Avery, John Wubbenhorst, Larry Mitchel, Kazem Davoudian, Susan Deyhim, and Mojgan Shajarian to name a few. He Performs regularly at many prestigious venues in the United States including the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, the Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Kennedy Center, and Freer Sackler Gallery in Washington D.C.

Arzhang Rafei

Arjang-Rafii Arzhang Rafei was born in Sari, Iran. He started playing tar at an early age and has studied with notable Iranian musicians, such as Arshad Tahmasbi. Arzhang has performed in several concerts and festivals in Toronto, including two performances at the Tirgan Festival as well as various collaborations with the Labyrinth and Andalib ensembles.

Saeed Kamjoo

Saeed-Kamjoo Saeed Kamjoo is a Kamanche player with a background in classical Iranian music. He graduated in music from Tehran University and continued his studies under the guidance of Ali Akbar Shekârchi and master Asghar Bahâri, two renowned Iranian music masters. He has also had the pleasure of collaborating with the grande dame of Iranian classical music, Parisa. Kamjoo's style of playing the Kamanche, a traditional Iranian instrument, is characterized by his creative and authentic approach while also incorporating innovative elements. He respects the traditional values of Classical Iranian music, but he also allows himself to explore new musical territories. Since moving to Montreal in 1997, Kamjoo has collaborated with various ensembles in North America, East Asia, and Europe, recording many albums and performing at numerous music festivals.

Kourosh Taghavi

Kourosh-Taghavi Kourosh Taghavi is an Iranian Setar player, composer, and music instructor based in San Diego, California. He has studied under the tutelage of world-renowned master musicians, Mohammad Reza Lotfi and Hossein Alizadeh. These ongoing studies have been the source of his unique approach to the art of Iranian music. Taghavi’s passionate and melodic approach to music is the foundation of his many collaborations and recordings with numerous artists performing both the traditional and modern art forms of Iranian music. His collaborative projects with master musicians and international and local cultural organizations work to fulfill his lifelong passion for raising awareness of the importance of music in people’s lives. Kourosh has been teaching the Setar throughout California, lecturing, composing original music for plays, creating compositions based on contemporary Iranian poetry, holding music workshops, and recording original compositions. These are only a few of the many goals Kourosh has accomplished in his passionate quest for introducing and promoting Persian classical music. Kourosh is a founding member of the Namad Ensemble with which he has toured throughout the US, Europe, and Asia. His collaborations with renowned master artists such as Hossein Omoumi, Robert Bly, and Coleman Barks and prestigious cultural organizations such as San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Konya Mystic Music Festival, Carlsbad and Del Mar Music festivals are some of the highlights of his efforts in promoting Persian classical music and poetry. As a faculty member of San Diego State University, Kourosh taught the Radiff of Persian classical music and oversaw a related thesis. His ongoing collaboration with the Center for World Music organization as an Artist-Teacher in Residence has brought Persian music to the school districts of San Diego where he provides public school students with high-quality, hands-on instruction in Persian Classical music and periodic assemblies. Recognizing the significance of music in early childhood education, fatherhood was an epiphany that led to the foundation of the Epiphany Music that is catered to the youngest of our musical generation! Kourosh has designed age-appropriate curricula to introduce the world of music and rhythm through hands-on music-making and singing in a fun, musical environment where children thrive both musically and socially.

Naser Sheikhzadegan

Naser-Sheikhzadegan Naser Sheikhzadegan was born into a music-loving Azari family in Tehran and remembers his childhood being surrounded by Persian and Azari musical traditions. Naser studied music under the tutelage of great masters Mahmoud Zolfonoun, Mohammad Reza Lotfi, and Hossein Alizadeh and self-taught oud. Naser has composed and arranged numerous choral and ensemble pieces. At this point in his life, all Naser wants to be able to do is to inspire others with the soulful music of his homeland; just as others did to him.