Awards and Honors

* Nagle Scholarship. San Francisco State University, 2004-07.

* Iranian Student Scholarship Fund, 2006.

* Second place winner of 2005 Star Musician of Iran Competition. Washington DC.

* The National Deans' List

* Meet the Composer Grant, 2007.

* MetLife Creative Connections Grant, 2007.

* Graduate Fellowship 2008-09. University of California, Irvine. - Graduate Opportunities Fellowship
- ArtBlock Fellowship

* Medici Scholar Award, 2009.

* Graduate Research Award. Claire Trevor School of The Arts. 2009. - Project: Traveling the Silk Road (American Museum of Natural History), The Silk Road Project (Silk Road Ensemble and Yo Yo Ma).

Degrees

* Science Major (Math and Biology), High School, Iran.

* AA, De Anza College, United States.

* BA, World/Jazz Music (Persian Music and Santour), San Francisco State University, United States.
- Seg III. Islamic Studies (Middle Eastern studies)

Thesis: 20th Century Stylistic Development and Historical Parallels in American Jazz and Iranian Classical Music. San Francisco State University, Senior Thesis, 2006.

* Master of Fine Arts. Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology (ICIT), University of California, Irvine.

Thesis: "Abstracting" Iranian Classical Music. University of California, Irvine. MFA Thesis, 2010.

publication: "Abstracting" Iranian Classical Music

Speeches

* San Francisco State University
-Fall Semester 2006, Two Sessions
-Room 147, Lecture: Theory of Persian Classical Music (Ethnomusicology)

* San Francisco State University
-Fall Semester, 2006 , One Session
-Knuth Hall, Lecture, Theory of Persian Classical Music (Musicology)

* De Anza college
-One Session of an Introduction to Persian Music, each quarter for the year 2003.

* Lecture series, Introduction to Iranian Music
-"Nahaad Farhangieh Dehkhoda". (young students) 2001.

* Lecture series, Introduction to music.
-Payvand Farsi School, Cupertino. (young students) 2002.

* Lecture Demonstration on santour
-UC Los Angeles. Feb, 2007.
-Seminar of Ethnomusicology (Jihad Racy)

* Lecture Demonstration on santour
-UC Santa Cruz. 1156 High Street. Santa Cruz, CA, 95064.Jan, 24th, 2008. -12pm- 1:45pm.

* Lecture Demonstration on santour
-UC Irvine. January, 9th, 2008.
-Iranian music (Hossein Omoumi)

* Lecture Demonstration on Iranian music
- Society for Ethnomusicology Northern California Chapter
- Annual Conference
- Cal State University, East Bay. March, 8th, 2008
- Click here to view the schedule

* Lecture Demonstration on Iranian music and santour
- Park Day School. Oakland March, 21st, 2008.

* Lecture.
"What is Music?"
- Iran, Tehran, Karaj. Sarang Music Institute. April, 2008.

* Lecture on Iranian Music
- De Anza College, Cupertino, California. June, 3rd, 2008.

* Santour Clinic
- santour workshop
1610 Berryessa rd, San Jose, Ca. Saturday, August 23rd, 2008.

* Lecture: Iranian Classical Music
- De Anza College, Cupertino, California. Nov 22nd, 2010.

* 2011 annual conference of Northern California Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology (NCCSEM) .Presenting "Abstracting" Iranian Classical Music. - San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California. March 5th, 2011.

* Elmi Karbordi University of Iran. Branch 11. On "Abstracting Iranian Classical Music". 2011.

Papers and Projects

(Many have not been published yet)
* 20th Century Stylistic Development and Historical Parallels in American Jazz and Iranian Classical Music. San Francisco State University, Senior Thesis, 2006.

* Wealth or Art. 2007.

* Truth in Improvised Music (Philosophy of Nisheitani Keiji)

* Iranian Music and Sorrow. 2002 (Published)

* Naghdi bar aavazeh chand daghigheieh Sharaam Naazeri. 2006.

* Translation and cataloging 500 Pages of Master Mahmoud Zolfonoun's Music Collection in 10 CDs. 2003-5 (Research Assistance between the San Francisco State University's library and SFSU's College of Dance and Music)

* HumanMulation (Short Story)

* Music and Islam, 2006. (Presentation)

* Money Kingdom (Paper)

* Some innovative ways of writing Iranian Music.

* Uncovering the Similarities of Iranian Classical Music and Blues. Comparative analysis of Gusheh Oj (Radif Mirzaa Abdollah) and "Fine and Mellow", a blues tune composed by Mckay, Holiday in 1939.

* "Abstracting" Iranian Classical Music. University of California, Irvine. MFA thesis, 2011.

* Merz-music. University of California, Irvine. 2011.

Concerts and Performances

* High School Rajai, Karaj, Iran, 1995.

Year 2000

* Wed, Oct, 25th, 7:00pm. 2000 Almaden Branch Library, California (Solo)

* Yalda Celebration, Persian Center. Dec, 20th, 2000. Palo Alto, California (Solo)

* Kanoun Pedar Maadaraan, 2000, California. (Solo)

Year 2001

* Sunday, March, 11th , 2:00pm , 2001. Nahaad Farhangi Dehkhoda, California. (Solo)

* Mahmoud Zolfonoun Celebration, 2001, Cupertino, California. (Solo)

* The 1st Annual International Symposium on Sey-yed Shah Nematollah Vali.
Oct. 11th & 12th, 2002. San Jose State University, California. (Ensemble)

* A Concert of Persian Music. Thur, Feb 20th, 12:30pm, 2001. De Anza College, California. (Ensemble, Composer)

* Persian Classical Music. Nov, 1st, 5:00pm ,2002. De Anza College, California. (Ensemble, Composer)

* San Francisco World Music Festival, 2002. (Duet)

Year 2003

* Nahaad Farhangi Dehkhoda, Campbell, 2003, California. (Solo)

* Zoroastrian Celebration. Alum Rock, San Jose, California, 2003. (Ensemble, Composer)

Year 2004

* Gusheh Ensemble join by other outstanding Bay Area musicians. Sat, Apr 3rd, 7:30pm, 2004. Cubberely Auditorium, School of Education, Stanford University, California. (Ensemble)

* Benefit Concert for Bam Earthquake Survivors. Sat, Jan 10th, 7:30pm , 2004. First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto, California. (Ensemble)

* Persian Traditional Improvisation. Thu, May 27th, 6:30pm, 2004. De Anza College, Cupertino, California. (Duet, Speech)

* Mahmoud Zolfonoun Celebration, 2004. West Valley College, California. (Solo)

* World Music Festival, 91.5 FM, KKUP. 19th Annual KKUP World music festival. Wed, Nov 26th, 5:00pm, California. (Duet)

* Jazz and World Music Nagle Scholars recital. Fri, Nov 19th, 2004. College of Creative Arts, SFSU, California. (Solo)

Year 2005

* Creative World Ensemble. Wed, Nov 16th, 1:00pm ,2005. Knuth Hall. School of Music and Dance in San Francisco State University. (Ensemble)

* Persian Classical Music. Wed, Dec 7th, 1:10pm, 2005. College of Creative Arts, SFSU. (Ensemble, Composer)

* Persian Classical Music. Apr 15th, 1:00pm, 2005. Knuth Hall. School of Music and Dance of San Francisco State University. (Solo, ensemble, and composer)

Year 2006

* Around the World in 80 Minutes. Listen for Life. World Music concert series, 2006. Berkeley. (Solo)

* Iranian Classical Music by Bay Area Iranian Musicians. Sat, March 4th, 8:00pm, 2006. Iranian Christian Church, 740 East Arques Ave, Sunnyvale, California. (Ensemble, composer and co-organiser)

* Opera Picolla. 4/14/2006. Play; "The Guests" written by Shahrnush
Parsipur. 1 month tour in California. (Solo, Composer)

* Carpet Concert. Saturday, February 21st, 2006. 1:00pm. Craft and Folk Art Museum. 5814 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles. CA 90036.* Kanooneh Pedar Maadaraan, 2006, California. (Solo)

* Listen for Life World Music Concert series. Thur, July 31th, 5:30pm, 2006. San Francisco, War Memorial and Performing Art Center. (Solo)

* Afro-Cuban ensemble and Creative World Music ensemble. Thur, Nov 16th, 7:30pm, 2006. Knuth Hall, San Francisco State University.

* Three Performances for Haft Dastgah association, Hossein Omoumi. A Series of Music concerts and lectures. Los Angeles 2004, San Jose 2005 and Irvine 2006.

* Senior Recital, Faraz Minooei. Mon, Nov 27th, 8:00pm, 2006. Knuth Hall,San Francisco State University. (Ensemble, Composer)

* Senior Recital, Isabel Douglass. Sun, Dec 3rd, 1:00pm, 2006. Knuth Hall, San Francisco State University. (Ensemble, Composer)

* Celebration Of Imam Reza, Oakland Masjid. 2006, California. (Ensemble, Composer)

Year 2007

* Tribute to Ostad Mahmoud Zolfonoun, Jan 20th, 2007. Palace of Fine Art. San Francisco, California. (Ensemble)

* Iranian Poet Gathering at Iranian Christian Church, 2007, California. (Ensemble, Composer)

* Chromodal Consort. St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, Saturday, August 18th, 2007 at 7:00pm. San Francisco, California. (Ensemble)

* An Iranian concert at Iranian Christian Church, Oct, 26th, 2007 at 7:30pm.Santa Clara. (Ensemble)

* Dr. Abdulkarim Soroush (Speech) Islamic Cultural Center (Oakland). Nov, 17th, 2007, 6:30pm. 1433 Madison,Oakland, California. (Composer and Poetry accompaniment)

* "The Breeze at Dawn", Play. Nov, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, and 18th. 2007. Red Gate Performance Collective.Traveling Jewish Theatre, San Francisco. (Composer)

Year 2008

* Creative World Ensemble. Fri, Feb 22th, 7:00pm ,2008. Knuth Hall. School of Music and Dance in San Francisco State University. (Ensemble)
Directed by Dr. Hafez Modirzadeh

* Three Nights of House Concert. April, 4th, 5th and 6th, 2008 at 7:30pm. 4597 Blackford ave., San Jose, California, 95129.

* South Bay Performances of Meehan Ensemble. Friday/Sunday, June 27th/29th, 2008, 8:00 pm. 125 Connemara Way, Sunnyvale, CA (recreation center)

* East Bay Performance of Meehan Ensemble. Saturday, June 28th, 2008, 8:00 pm. Central Stage, 5221 Central Ave, Richmond, CA.

* Islamic Cultural Center - Saturday, July 12th, 2008. 9:00 pm. Oakland, CA.

* One World Walk - The First Annual Downtown Berkeley Music Festival.
Thursday, 21st August to Sunday, 24th August 2008. 1942 University Ave, Berkeley, 94704, California.

* Pezvak Ensemble - Saturday, September 13th, 2008. 8:00 pm. George Washington University. Marvin Center, Betts Theatre. 800 21 st street, NW, Washington, DC 20052.

* Carpet Concert. Thursday, March 26, 2009. 7:00pm. Craft and Folk Art Museum. 5814 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles. CA 90036.

* University of California, Irvine. Sunday April 19th, 2009. 8:00 pm. Smith Hall. Irvine, Smith Hall.

* The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma. June 9, 2009. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Damrosch Park. New York.

* Peace and Love for Iran. August 01, 2009 8:00 pm, Brava Theater, San Francisco.

Year 2009

* Meehan Ensemble, August 8th, 2009. 8:00 pm. Santa Clara Convention Center. San Jose.

* Commemoration of Master Parviz Meshkatian. Irvine, Orange County. 2009

* In Memory of Ghamar, Hamraaz Ensemble. Sat Oct 24th, 2009 at 8:00pm. Concordia University, Irvine, CA.

* Fall Showcase Concert. Nov 18th 2009, 12:00 pm. Winifred Smith Hall. University of California, Irvine.

* American Museum of Natural History. Dec 27th 2009, 8:00 pm. New York. NY. (This event is one in a series of performances brought together bythe Silk Road Project, which take place within the "Traveling the Silk Road" exhibitionat AMNH.) The New York Times, Art and Design (Review)

Year 2010

* Meehan Ensemble Concert in Southern California. Jan 23rd 2010, 8:00pm. California Zoroastrian Center. 8952 Hazard Ave. Westminster, CA.

* Winter Showcase Concert. Feb 17th 2010, 12:00 pm. Winifred Smith Hall, University of California Irvine.

* Classical Iranian Music. Feb 27th 2010, 8:00 pm. Oakland Islamic center. California.

* Pejvak Ensemble. March 7th 2010, 12:00 pm. Smithsonian Institution. Meyer Auditorium. Washington DC.

* Peace and Love for the Universe. March 12th 2010. 8:00pm. Santa Clara University, Mayer Theater. California.

* MFA recital. April 8th 2010. 8:00 pm University of California, Irvine. Smith Hall.

* Bowers Museum. Performance of ' ' 108 ' ' with Kojiro Umezaki. May 15th 2010. 1:30 pm. Irvine.

* Meehan Ensemble Concert in South California. June 26th 2010, 8:00pm. California Zoroastrian Center. Westminster.

* Meehan Ensemble Concert in North California. July 24th 2010, 8:00pm. De Anza College. Cupertino.

* Solo performance. Sponsored by Listen for Life World Music. August, 2nd 2010, 1:00 pm. San Jose State University.

Year 2011

* Iranian and Chinese Musicians of northernCalifornia at Flint Center. Cupertino. Feb 12th and 13th, 2011.

* Red Poppy Art House, with Hafez Modirzadeh, Royal Hartigan and Amir ElSaffar. San Francisco. March, 17th, 2011, 7:00 pm.

* Persian Center. Berkeley. April 1st, 2011, 6:30 pm.

* Hafez Modirzadeh and ETHEL. San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. July 23rd, 2011.

* Premiere of Post-Chromodal Originals for Jazz Quintet and Guests (Hafez Modirzadeh). San Francisco State University. Knuth Hall. November 4th, 2011. 7:00 pm. 

* Concert of Iranian classical music. Sponsored by Iranian Cultural Society of Fresno. USU. 5280 Jackson Ave. Fresno 93740. November 5th, 2011.

Year 2012

*Pan-Asian Music Festival 2012 at Stanford. With Kojiro Umezaki, Jin Hi Kim and Yuxiang Gao. Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. February, 10th, 2012.

Founder of

* School, "School Of Persian Music" in Bay Area, California, 2006.

* Group, Persian Musicians of California, 2006

* Meehan Ensemble (co-founder)

Member of

* Society of Ethnomusicology

* Haft-Dastgaah Association

* Persian Musicians of California

* Iranian-Musicology

* Listen for life (World Music)

* Rahmat Non-profit Organization (mercyforall)

* Shayda

* Safheh Irani

* Pejvak Ensemble

People whom I have learned from

* Behnam Mehrabi


* Mahmoud Mahmoudi


* Mahyaar Firouzbakht

* Muhammad Reza Lotfi


* Hossein Omoumi


* Alan Kushaan

*Hafez Modirzadeh


* Danny Kalanduyan

* David Xiques


* Jason Todrov


* Victoria Neve


* Josh Levine


* Ronald Caltabiano


* Inara Morgenstern


* Cyrus Ginwala


* Siamak Aghai


* Michael Dessen


* Royal Hartigan


* Kei Akagi

* Ardavan Kamkar

* Pejman Haddadi

* Christopher Dobrian

* Kojiro Umezaki

Interested in

* Astronomy
* Dentistry
* Anthropology
* Religion
* Spirituality
* Art Works in General
* Photography
* Persian Colligraphy (Student of Mr. Yubert Lazar)
* Philosophy and Philosophy of Art
* History of Islam
* Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Ecology
* Math
* Sports
* Sociology
*Traveling
* Persian and "Middle Eastern" studies
* Psychology
*Sufism
*Politics