Music Style: Classical
Based on improvisation and composition, interwoven with Persian poetry, this Persian Classical Music repertoire invokes short melodic gusheh that, combine in unique ways to invoke the history behind this still alive and vibrant art form, handed down over centuries of oral and written tradition.
PERSIAN MUSIC FESTIVAL
Enjoy two dynamic and contrasting concerts, one featuring Persian classical music and one featuring Persian Pop presented in partnership with the RAD Arts Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to supporting and showcasing immigrant artists.
The companion pop concert will be on Sunday, October 6 at 6PM. You can find more information on that concert here.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in Tehran/Iran in 1987, Behfar is a multi instrumentalist. His journey in music started when he was only 4 years old where as an only child he attended many Iranian master vocalists alongside his mother. Well known master vocalists including Parisa and Karim Saleh-Azimi well into his teen years. Behfar started his formal training in Persian Classical music with Homayoun Khorram studying the Iranian style of violin at the age 6. As he was more exposed to mystical world of Persian classical and folklore music he fell in love with the mystic music of western region of Iran, Kurdistan. He started playing Daf for two years with Arsalan Sadigh and Ramin Rahimi mastering the instrument in a very short time and starting to perform alongside his mother when he was only 13.
Around the same age he fell in love with the sound of two prominent Iranian classical music instruments Tar and Setar. When he was In Iran with the knowledge that he accumulated with Persian music he started playing both Tar and Setar on his own. Even though he started as a self taught musician at the beginning he was constantly supervised on this path by some of the greatest masters of Classical Iranian music. Correcting techniques along the way with masters including Majid Derakhshani and Kayhan Kalhor.
Behfar was always very interested in visual arts and he ended up earn his BFA at one of the most prestigious art schools in the United States, Maryland Institute of art. During all these years Behfar never stopped learning and expanding his knowledge of Iranian classical music.
He took master classes and routine sessions with great Iranian classical and folklore music masters including, Darioush Talaei, Ali-Akbar Moradi and Hamid Motebassem. Behfar stablished Pejvâk Ensemble in 2006 with which performed many concerts in United States. He also cofounded the Sorvâd ensemble in 2020 and went on the North American tour in 2022 with Iranian master percussionist Pejman Hadadi and Mojgan Shajarian. During the years active as a professional musician Behfar performed alongside many well known musicians including, Majid Derakhshani, Alireza Shahmohammadi, Pejman Hadadi, Pezhham Akhavass, John Wubbenhorst, Larry Mitchell, Dawn Avery, Kazem Davoudian, Susan Deyhim, Mojgan Shajarian and Mahboubeh Golzari.
Behfar performed in some of the most prestigious venues in the United States including the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco; Lincoln Center and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; Kennedy Center and Freer Sackler Gallery in Washington D.C. Behfar is continuing his journey on the road of music and art as an interdisciplinary artist.
