Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009

Iranian father, son perform music for peace

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- It's a seemingly simple approach to one of the modern world's most complicated political problems: By marrying the dainty lutes of the East with thrumming violas of the West, composer Hafez Nazeri says he wants to create harmony between the U.S. and his native Iran.

Nazeri's troupe of musicians from East and West, The Rumi Symphony Project, premiered his new symphony in Los Angeles last month and will perform it Saturday at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

"We're hearing all about nuclear weapons and all these crazy things," said Nazeri. "Look at us, people who come together from different cultures, different musical backgrounds and we all create love together, for you, for the world."

Nazeri's father, Shahram Nazeri, a famed classical singer known as Iran's Pavarotti, is scheduled to perform "Cycle One: Rites of Fall" alongside his son and classical musicians from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

In the piece, violin strains are punctuated with the rumble of the daf, a hand drum ringed with metal pieces that tremble when it is struck. At times, the string instruments of East and West are plucked in sync in a style that could be considered controversial.

Cultural authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran have worked to prevent foreign influence for decades, in backlash to the previous regime of the Shah, often criticized for being pro-Western.