Lotfi, Mohammad Reza & Sheyda Ensemble

When it comes to Persian music, Lotfi seems to have a Midas touch.  In his hands, old neglected instrumental pieces and songs, have flourished into fresh, dynamic, and timeless pieces that eventually turned into priceless classics of Persian music. As a musician, with his flawless technique in playing tar and setar, accompanied by his innovative approach, creativity, and deep-emotional quality, Lotfi has established a new standard in aesthetics in Persian music. He has made numerous recordings both as a solo artist and with major Iranian musicians such as  Mohammad Reza Shajarian,  Shahram Nazeri,  Hossein Alizadeh, and Parviz Meshkatian.
Lotfi’s first achievement in music came about with winning the first prize in Iran's Young Musicians Festival in 1964.  Later, he started his studies at the National Conservatory in Tehran under Habibollah Salehi and Master Ali Akbar Shahnazi and studied western classical music and the violin as well.  His long list of eminent teachers and mentors include Abdollah Davami, Hossein Dehlavi, Hormozi, and Nour-Ali Boroumand.  He joined the faculty of Fine Arts at Tehran University in 1973 and later became the Head of the School of Music at Tehran University.  Lotfi continued his collaboration with Radio and Television and co-founded the Shayda Ensemble in 1974. Sheyda has always been active in promotion and preservation of Iranian Classical Music through music education and production.  In 1987, he expanded the organization by bringing it to the United States where he began to refresh it with addition of young talents and some of best musicians in Iran. Their last concert in 2007 was a sold-out event (7500 seats) in Niavaran Palace in Tehran.

Babak Amini Band
Guitars: Babak Amini | Drums: Anthony Michelli
Bass: Attila Darvas | Percussion: TBA

A highly talented and accomplished Iranian Musician, Composer, Guitarist, and a member of American Guitar Society, Babak had his first experience with music under the direction of his mentor and renowned teacher, Shahrokh Partovi. He began learning music and Flamenco style guitar at the age of ten. He then followed his passion by studying with one of the masters in guitar, Simon Aivazian. By the age of eighteen, he was a professional musician. His first album, Gray Rain, was released in 1990 followed by the Blue Rain. His third album, Shadow of My Own, contained vocals based on poets such as Hafez, Molana, Baba Taher, and Nima. At this time, Babak started his collaboration with Googoosh, the diva of Iranian music on her album, Zoroaster. Later, he was asked to compose, arrange and lead Googoosh's orchestra for her tour around the world. During this tour, Babak completed his solo album, 'Magic', in the US. Babak moved to Canada in 2000 and he produced some albums and worked with different singers and artists such as Soli, Sogand, and Meysam Bakhtiari. He also performed in different venues such as Air Canada Centre, Toronto Centre for the Arts, Ontario Science Centre, and Toronto Beaches Jazz Festival.
He then moved to Los Angeles in 2006 and became a member of American Guitar Society. Currently he teaches and performs in different places in the US, and he leads Faramarz Aslaniʼs band and also working with singers and great musicians for his recent projects.

Baarbad Music Group

Baarbad Music Group is a non-for profit organization, founded by Mehdi Rezania in 2004 with the goal of promoting the culture of traditional music by means of novel presentations.  The band has held several concerts on several genres from Classical Persian to Fusion and Western Classical based with original compositions by Baarbad members or arrangements of other composers.  Baarbad always attempts to express new ideas such as solo performance concert, which has not been done before, and new arrangements and compositions to promote the culture of music.
For the first time in Toronto Baarbad performed Kurdish Folklore Music in traditional fashion on 16th of February 2008 in Toronto Centre for the Arts.  The performance consisted of a collection of folklore songs as well as new arrangements for them to highlight the beauty and exquisiteness of folkloric music, which is the root of many classical repertoires.

Dadvar, Darya
www.daryadadvar.com

A talented soprano singer and composer, Darya Darvar is a graduate of the National Conservatory in Toulouse, who lives in Paris, France. She performs regularly in many countries such as the United States, Canada, Sweden, Germany,and United Kingdom.
In 2003 she was invited to Iran to perform an Opera with Armenian Symphony Orchestra. The piece was composed and directed by Loris Tjeknavorian, and was based on the tragedy of “Rostam and Sohrab” from the old Persian epic, Shahnameh.
In addition to her vocal performances, Darya is gifted in arranging melodies in a modern style. By using her captivating voice, she produces a unique blend of opera and traditional music of Iran. She sings in various Iranian dialects, such as Azari, Kurdi, and Guilaki. Through her performances, she invites us on a musical journey to Iran. By mixing Persian music with jazz and blues elements, she creates a world where different cultures are unified. 

Shoari, Masoud

Masoud Shoari started playing santur at the age of 13, and later on, he turned to setar under the supervision of Dariush Talai. In 1982 he started practicing tar with Master Mohammad Reza Lotfi and Master Bahari, but his vocation for playing setar became most apparent under the teaching of Master Hossein Alizadeh. For the past ten years, he has been teaching setar and theory of traditional Persian music in Tehran's Azad University, "Hamsaz" musical center, and other private and public musical centers. Shoari has performed in many concerts in Iran and abroad as a soloist (Beitoddin Festival in Beirut, Belgium and Italy), as well as in the ensembles of Hossein Alizadeh and Shahram Nazeri. So far he has recorded four albums including solos and a duo for setar/tabla.

Note: Tirgan Festival will undergo the unfortunate nonattendance of the above artists due to unavoidable visa affairs.

Behroozinia, Hossein
www.behroozinia.com

Hossein Behroozinia acquired training with great masters such as Reza Vahdani, Mansour Ebrahimi (Nariman) and Mohammad Reza Lotfi. He continued to establish an extensive career in music as a musician, composer, and an educator. Hossein Behroozinia has performed on numerous albums of celebrated Iranian composers as well as on all the released works of Dastan Ensemble. His discography includes Barbat, Koohestan, Yadestan, Vajd (Midnight Sun), Dastan Trio, Shurideh, Gol-e Behesht. He taught extensively at the Tehran Conservatory of Music and the Center for Preservation of Music in Iran. He was also a member of the celebrated ensembles such as Mowlana, Aref, and later, Dastan Ensemble (1992). He currently resides in Vancouver, Canada where he teaches Persian music.

Note: Tirgan Festival will undergo the unfortunate nonattendance of the above artists due to unavoidable health condition.