Manoochehr Sadeghi

Manoochehr Sadeghi منوچهر صادقی
Manoochehr representing the correct hand and body posture when performing the santur
Background information
Born	April 13, 1938 (1938-04-13) (age 73) Tehran, Iran
Genres	Persian classical music, world music
Occupations	Santur virtuoso, teacher, lecturer, composer, producer, pedagogue
Instruments	Santur
Years active	1961–present
Labels	UCLA, WB
Associated acts	Vision Live Series, Sohl Ensemble
Website	santur.com
Notable instruments
Santur

Manoochehr Sadeghi San tur.theora

2003 National Heritage Fellowship Award Ceremony

Manoochehr Sadeghi

M. Sadeghi's live TV performance with Saba's orchestra 1961

Manoochehr Sadeghi (Born April 13, 1938) is Persian American naturalized citizen, born in Tehran, Iran. He is considered a Grandmaster or Ostad of the santur a Persian hammered dulcimer. Recipient of the 2003 National Heritage Fellowship Award by the Library of Congress^[1] and in 2002 Durfee Foundation: Recipient of the Master Musician Award.^[2] He has been lecturing, teaching, recording and performing Persian classical music on the santur professionally for over 50 years.

Early life

Sadeghi began studying the santur at the age of 7 with a music teacher coincidentally named Manoochehr Sadeghian. By the age of 14 he became the prized pupil of a legendary figure in Persian classical music, the late Ostad Abol Hassan Saba;^[3] who was a master and creator of the Radif of Saba,^[4] considered today's manual to mastering Persian classical music. At the age of 19 he performed in Saba's first orchestra of the State Fine Arts Department of Iran. After performing on Iran's television and radio, he went on to stage live concerts around the world for various head's of state.^[5] In 1964, Sadeghi emigrated to the United States to pursue his education and career. First at the California State University, Fullerton,^[6] and then at UCLA,^[7] where he began teaching and performing while earning his degrees. In 1973 he was awarded the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship Program.^[8]

Career

Sadeghi is recording his latest album, "Solh Ensemble", with world renowned musician and composer John Barnes; Barnes co-produced Michael Jackson's 1987 Bad album.^{[citation needed]}Sadeghi has a variety of students whom he teaches at home and on the internet. Sadeghi is compiling his lessons into an online music school to preserve his knowledge, technique and personal style through contemporary Persian classical improvisation. He is preparing for a series of concerts after the release of his next album. He taught private lessons in Iran from 1953 to 1964 and then in the United States from 1966 to the present. Sadeghi was a teacher at the Conservatory of Persian National Music in Iran from 1958–1964 on the faculty at UCLA’s Department of Ethnomusicology from 1967 to 1997.^{[citation needed]} He also taught Persian classical music theory, history and performance, and gave annual concerts on campus and abroad.

Notable live performances

• Command performances for Queen Elizabeth II - Vice President Nixon, King Hussain of Jordan, King Fasil of Iraq, Ronald Reagan, 1953-1964.
• India-Persia - Manoochehr Sadeghi (santur), Ali Akbar Khan (sarod), Labera Theatre, Santa Barbara, 1983.
• Classical Music of the East – India, Persia, Arabia - M. Sadeghi (santur) & The Jazz and World Music Society, Santa Barbara, 1983.
• Music of Iran - Manoochehr Sadeghi, Music Director, Hayedeh, vocalist, UCLA, Society for Ethnomusicology, 1984.
• East West Fusion - Manoochehr Sadeghi (santur), L. Subramaniam (violin) and ensemble, UCLA Royce Hall, 1986.
• Music and Dance on the Grass - annual international folk festival, UCLA, 1967-1997 - Honoring the 600th anniversary of the birth of Hafez
• An Evening of Persian Music - special guest santur virtuoso Manoochehr Sadeghi, Lotte
• Sacred Landmarks - Lehmann Hall, UC Santa Barbara, 1993 - concert for the L. A. Festival, All Saints Church, Pasadena, CA, 1993.
• Persian Festival - Persian music ensemble directed by Manoochehr Sadeghi, UCLA Fowler Museum, 1995.
• Traditional Persian Music - Earth Music Center of Indiana, IUPUI Lecture Hall Auditorium, Indianapolis, IN, 1998.
• World Festival of Sacred Music - Mystic Voices - Music of Devotion in Islam and Hinduism,” concert Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles, 1999.
• Smithsonian Institute - Sakler & Freer Gallery 2003 Vision Concert Series
• The Kennedy Center - 2003 Vision Concert Series
• Japan American Theatre - 2003 Vision Concert Series
• J. Paul Getty - 2004 Fusion concert with Pejman Hadadi and Adam del Monte
• Grand Performances - 2004 Fusion concert with John Belizikjian and Adam del Monte
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - 2004 Improvisation Conference - Professor Bruno Nettl
• The Virginia National Folk Festival - 2007 concert for the National Folk Festival in Richmond Virginia
• Disney Hall - 2007 Concert with the Los Angeles Master Chorale

References

1. ^ "National Endowment for the Arts". http://www.nea.gov/honors/heritage/fellows/fellow.php?id=2003_09&type=bio. 
2. ^ "Durfee Foundation Master Musician Award". http://www.durfee.org/musicinstitute/agenda.html. 
3. ^ Saba, Abol Hasan. "Ostad Master of Persian Classical Music". Radif of Saba. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolhasan_Saba. 
4. ^ Nettl, Bruno. "PHD". Ethnomusicology. http://books.google.com/books?id=rygV4McHWfcC&pg=PA191&lpg=PA191&dq=Bruno+Nettl,+Radif+of+Saba&source=bl&ots=q-ah3TsaNA&sig=KbpCB5xFgDGCBdypIB2aVQbeEms&hl=en&ei=W6-FTuWsGKrkiALI7KHBDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
5. ^ "About Manoochehr Sadeghi". National Endowment for the Arts Websitte. http://www.nea.gov/honors/heritage/fellows/fellow.php?id=2003_09&type=bio. 
6. ^ "California State University, Fullerton". http://www.fullerton.edu/. 
7. ^ "UCLA, University of California Los Angeles". Ethnomusicology. http://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=836&Itemid=178. 
8. ^ "Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship Program". UCLA. http://www.international.ucla.edu/funding/article.asp?parentid=17369. Retrieved 1971. 

External links

• Santur.com - The Art of Persian Music
• April conference at Illinois to focus on improvisation in music - University of Illinois
• Book details - Dariush Tala'i - Traditional Persian Art Music
• The Struggle for Iran - radio documentary of the Iran Project
• Takin' It Easy (1978)