Farzad  

violinist, U.S.A.

No longer safe for him to return to Iran, he took his family to Ecuador, where Farzad became principal violinist of the National Symphony Orchestra there. In 1982 he was granted asylum in the United States, and then did a master's degree at University of North Texas in Denton. He has lived in New Mexico since 1990.

Mirror of Emotions, released in 2001 by Santa Fe-based Amity Records, features the acoustic guitar of Louie Shelton of Nashville, who also produced the album and wrote two of its 10 songs. Eight were written by Farzad, including La Dadiva, incorporating Latin rhythms, and Come Be With Me, adapting a Persian folk melody.

"Many of his fellow Indiana music students - all wrapped up in Bach, Beethoven or Brahms - gave him a hard time about his musical choices.
"When they came to my house, they always would hear different types of music. I would listen to jazz. I would listen to Latin, Persian, you name it, country songs," he said. "I would listen to everything, and they would look at me like, 'Why are you doing this?' "
"When they came to my house, they always would hear different types of music. I would listen to jazz. I would listen to Latin, Persian, you name it, country songs," he said. "I would listen to everything, and they would look at me like, 'Why are you doing this?' "

Music is "just like food," he said. "Doesn't matter how much you like the food, if you eat it too much every day, you get used to it, but you are depriving yourself of all these different things." "

Excerpt from the Sante Fe New Mexican newspaper,
11 November 2003.

Before I get on the stage, I feel as if I am about to take my friends (the audience) for a spiritual and an emotional sightseeing trip. And I think one of the exiting things about any trip is the element of surprise and the new things that one might encounter. Often I ask them to close their eyes and open their hearts and let the music do what it does the best, communicating with our heart and soul through our emotions and vice versa.

Perhaps Unity in Diversity would define my style the best, as you can hear a bit of everything within each composition. For example in track #4(La Dadidva)in my cd "Mirror of Emotions" you will hear latin rhythms with Middle Eastern harmonic rhythms and mix melodic lines(Eastern and Western). In track #9(Why)from the same cd, one will hear more Western classical music elements or in track #1(Searching) you will hear more eclectic sound,or track #6 (Conversation)in the genre of smooth jazz.

So these original pieces are all a culmination of genres -- eastern, western, classical, jazz, folk, etc. I have a strong belief that in the creative process artists must resist the tendency to remain set in a single style, that they allow their influences to shine through and allow music, in and of itself, to evolve. Therefore, in the 2000 CD "From My Heart" you will hear the strong influence of many sounds in my original pieces, as well as in adaptations of the folk songs.

In all of the folk songs, which are normally very short, I have rearranged the melodic lines to both lengthen them and to avoid repetition. I have also included two orchestral pieces which reflect my training as a classical musician. I always think of my audience as my friends with whom I would like to share my music. "From My Heart" is a sign of gratitude and thanks to them for being there.

Mystery of Love (2002) is Farzad's recent music CD. It is a collection of twelve songs of Persian Folklore and traditional music. Rahmatollah Badiyi (violin) and his daughter, Parisa (voice), have collaborated with Farzad on this album. One of the tracks, Medley IV, is a medley played by two violins and an orchestra. Here Farzad and Rahmatollah Badiyi present two styles of violin performance, classical and Persian.