 Fared Shafinury – Much of the “fusion music’ pumped out by a new
generation of bands in Iran transitions from East to west, writing Farsi
lyrics onto non-Iranian genres like rock, jazz, and country. While the results
can be novel and crowd-pleasing, the mix often feels more like an over lay
of disparate elements than a seamless, authentic form of art. This is what
makes the sound of Iranian-American musician Fared Shafinury stand out
from his contemporaries.

Born in a small town along the Gulf of Mexico, and classically trained on
the cello, Shafinury later unearthed a deep-rooted love for the music of his
parents’ homeland – the traditional vocal/instrumental repertoire known as
the radiff. His compositions thus move against the current, by retracing
the arc from West to East. In his hands, the setar, an Eastern cousin
of the guitar, and Fared’s virtuoso specialty, yearns not for a departure
from Iranian form nor the emulation of Western genres, but arrival at the
point where binaries and boundaries bleed and blend until they dissolve
completely.

Shafinury now lives in the Bay Area recording his 3rd album, as well
as composing sound tracks for various films. He has performed all
across the country, selling out prestigious concert halls. In 2009, Fared
Shafinury was the featured artist at the Iranian Alliances Across Borders
International conference on the Iranian Diaspora. In 2010, he was featured
at the Iranian.com music festival, performing at the Palace of Fine Arts.
Shafinury also has extensive knowledge of composing and arranging for
choreographies. In 2005, Fared Shafinury has had the privilege of studying under
some of Iran’s most prominent masters: including: Ostad Mozaffari, Ostad
Zoghadr, Ostad Shaari, Ostad Soukuti, and Ostad Mohammad Reza Lotfi.
Shafinury’s music is the progeny of his talent, passion, and environments –
producing a sound that simultaneously singular in character and universal
in appeal. 

Born in 1973 and grew up in Arak (Iran). Since 1990 resident in Sweden and working as bass player and teacher. Mazdak got his music education at Gejer Folk High School and Bollnäs Folk High School 1992-1997 and ended up with a master in fine arts from Ingesund university 2001 and a Bachelor of Folk/World at Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg Sweden in 2009. Mazdak have since 2001 worked as freelance musician,teacher and bandleader working in the different genres as folk, pop, rock, jazz and classical music, Collaborating with different Swedish and international artist's as Roger Pontare, Thomas Di Leva (SW) Lotfi Bouchnak (TUN) Adnan Karim (Iraq/Kurdistan) Deodato Siquer (Mozambique) and Ahmad Alkhatib (Palestine).

"As strongly influenced by his native country’s idiom yet also undeniably informed by classical training and the world of academic new music — a healthy balance." -SF Classical Voice

Born in 1981 in Tehran, Iran, Aminikia studied music composition in Russia at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory under Boris Ivanovich Tishchenko, a post-graduate student of Dimitri Shostakovich. In his homeland, Aminikia studied under renowned Iranian pianists Nikan Milani, Safa Shahidi and Gagik Babayan. He was perhaps most influenced by work with his first teacher and renown composer , Dr. Mehran Rouhani, a post-graduate of Royal Academy of Music and former student of Sir Michael Tippett.

He received his Bachelor of Music and his Master of Music with honors from San Francisco Conservatory of Music under Dan Becker, David Garner and David Conte where he was the proud recipient of Phyllis Wattis Foundation scholarship. He has also received lessons from Conrad Susa, Richard Danielpour, John Corigliano, Oswaldo Golijov and John Adams. Aminikia is currently a faculty member at San Francisco Academy of Art University while maintaining his career as a freelance composer.

He is the recipient of many various commissions from theatre troops to contemporary classical ensembles, film scores, Persian traditional music groups to jazz bands including Kronos Quartet, Symphony Parnassus, San Francisco Conservatory of Music New Music Ensemble, Mobius Trio, Delphi Trio and Living Earth Show and has collaborated with artists such as Rashin Fahandej and Taraneh Hemami and sees these as opportunities to further establish a unique communication between himself and international audiences.

His third string quartet ,"A Threnody for Those Who Remain", commissioned by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Kronos Performing Arts Association was described by Financial Times as “An experience not to be easily forgotten”.

One of his most recent projects was a second commission for Kronos Quartet called “Tar o Pood” (Warp and Weft) which was based on actual recordings of Persian carpet-weavers work songs. Aminikia was recently appointed as the 2014 Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival’s Fellow Artist Composer through which his most recent piece, "Shabo Meh" (Night and Fog) was commissioned and was world-premiered by the SF-based piano trio, Delphi Trio.

NU
A frequency. A journey through rhythm and sound, carrying the wisdom of cultures beyond time and space.

Storytelling that does not ask to be understood. It vibrates through you, like something your heart has always known.

It lives in those who listen, in those who feel, in those who carry it forward. A resonance that heals, awakens, and remembers.

For every soul who has found this—endless gratitude.

This is for you. The journey has just begun.

There is much more to come.

Naghib Shanbehzadeh is following