Supervisor, 3rd
District Kenneth Hahn Hall of
Administration, Room 821 Los
Angeles 90012
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For Immediate
Release
SUPERVISOR
YAROSLAVSKY HONORS MANOOCHEHR SADEGHI,
NEA
NATIONAL HERITAGE FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENT
Sadeghi is the first person of Persian
background to receive the United States’ highest honor in folk
and traditional arts.
On Tuesday,
September 2, 2003, the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles
County will present Mr. Manoochehr Sadeghi (Ma’-new-chair Sah-day’-ghee)
with a scroll in honor of his receiving a National Endowment
for the Arts National
Heritage Fellowship, the country's highest honor in the folk
and traditional arts.
The
presentation will take place in the Board of Supervisor’s
Hearing Room, Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 West
Temple St., 3rd Floor (at the SE corner of Temple and Grand in
downtown L.A.). The Board meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m.
with the presentation to take place shortly thereafter.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky will make the presentation, which
will be followed by a brief performance by Mr. Sadeghi.
Manoochehr Sadeghi,
a resident of Sherman Oaks, is the greatest master of the
Persian santur (hammer dulcimer) living in the United States,
and through his teaching, has been instrumental in the passing
on of this tradition. He is the first person of Persian
background ever to receive the NEA’s National Heritage
Fellowship.
About Manoochehr Sadeghi
Born in
Tehran, Iran, the
santur
master Ostad Manoochehr Sadeghi is a leading virtuoso on the
santur
(Persian Hammered Dulcimer) with forty-five years of
professional experience both in his native Iran and in the
United States of America. He began studying at a young age,
becoming a prized pupil of Abol Hassan Saba, a legendary
figure in Persian classical music. In 1956 he was chosen by
Saba to participate in his orchestra, the first Orchestra of
the State Fine Arts Department of Iran, where he continued as
a soloist for many years. As a member of this orchestra and
other ensembles sponsored by the Iranian Government he has
performed on Tehran radio and television, concertized widely
and given command performances for visits of various foreign
dignitaries and heads of state from India, Pakistan, Turkey,
Denmark, Great Britain, The Netherlands and America. At the
same time he was engaged in teaching at the Conservatory of
Persian National Music in Tehran. When he left his home
country for the United States in 1964, Iranian television
produced a farewell special dedicated to him.
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In his years in
California, he has seen the Persian population of Los Angeles
grow from several thousand to half a million. He has trained
countless young musicians and scholars, many of whom have
themselves become master musicians. This year, he formalized
and expanded his educational role by founding the Nakisa Music
Institute, a Persian and world music school with locations in
Sherman Oaks and Newport Beach, California. The Institute has
an impressive faculty, drawing from musicians of many cultures
who have worked with Mr. Sadeghi over the years.
Not only is Mr.
Sadeghi respected in the community, but also in the academic
world. He taught Persian classical music and theory in UCLA’s
Department of Ethnomusicology, and is quoted in many
well-regarded ethnomusicological works. His research and
musicianship have been recognized in the past by a
Fulbright-Hays Fellowship and a Durfee Foundation Master
Musician Fellowship.
Mr. Sadeghi places
great importance on the bringing together of people of various
cultures, and values the powerful role that music can play in
building those relationships and in working toward a peaceful
world. His impressive recording collaborations reflect this
stand, having recorded with artists from jazz violinist
Stephane Grappelli to folk-rockers Seals & Crofts.
For more
information, see
www.santur.com.
or
info@santur.com
About the NEA National Heritage
Fellowships
As part of its
efforts to honor and preserve our nation's diverse cultural
heritage, the National Endowment for the Arts annually awards
up to ten one-time-only National Heritage Fellowships for
master folk and traditional artists. These fellowships are
intended to recognize the recipients' artistic excellence and
support their continuing contributions to our nation's
traditional arts heritage.
The selection
criteria are authenticity, excellence, and significance within
the particular artistic tradition. The individuals who are
nominated should be worthy of national recognition; they
should have a record of continuing artistic accomplishment and
must be actively participating in their art form, either as
practitioners or as teachers.
For more
information on the 2003 National Heritage Fellowships, see
http://arts.endow.gov/endownews/news03/Heritage2003.html.
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National Endowment For The Arts
Announces the 2003 Recipients of the Nation's Highest
Honor in the Folk and Traditional Arts
Sixteen
Artists to Receive 2003 NEA National Heritage Fellowships
June 17, 2003
Washington,
D.C. - The National
Endowment for the Arts today announced the 2003 recipients
of the NEA National Heritage Fellowships, the country's
highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. Eleven
fellowships are presented to honorees from nine states and
one special jurisdiction. Sixteen awardees were chosen for
their artistic excellence, authenticity, and contributions
to their field.
"We are proud to honor these
master artists whose compelling work demonstrates the
extraordinary diversity and depth of our nation's cultural
wealth," said Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National
Endowment for the Arts. "These talented individuals are
not only renowned practitioners of their art forms but
also teachers and preservers of artistic heritages,
passing on their skills and passions to future
generations."
As in years past, this group
of awardees illustrates the importance of family in the
folk and traditional arts. In addition, many of the
awardees' work represent the union of artistic creation
and occupational craft, combining beauty and utility, form
and function.
2003 National
Heritage Fellowship Recipients
Rosa Elena Egipciaco,
Mundillo
(Puerto Rican bobbin lace) (New York, NY)
Agnes "Oshanee" Kenmille,
Salish beadworker and regalia maker (Ronan, MT)
Norman Kennedy, Weaver,
singer, storyteller (Marshfield, VT)
Roberto and Lorenzo Martinez,
Hispanic musicians (Albuquerque, NM)
Norma Miller, African
American dancer, choreographer (Las Vegas, NV)
Ron Poast, Hardanger
fiddle maker (Black Earth, WI)
Felipe I. and Joseph K. Ruak,
Carolinian stick dance leaders (Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands)
Manoochehr Sadeghi,
Persian santur player,
(Sherman Oaks, CA)
Nicholas Toth, Diving
helmet designer/builder, (Tarpon Springs, FL)
Basque (Bertsolari) Poets
Jesus Arriada (San Francisco, CA)
Johnny Curutchet (South San Francisco, CA)
Martin Goicoechea (Rock Springs, WY)
Jesus Goni (Reno, NV)
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2003 National Heritage Fellowships
MANOOCHEHR
SADEGHI
Persian santur player, Los Angeles, CA
Born in Tehran, Iran, the
santur
master Dr. Manoochehr Sadeghi is a leading virtuoso on the
santur
(Persian Hammered Dulcimer) with forty-five years of
professional experience both in his native Iran and in the
United States of America. He began studying at a young age,
becoming a prized pupil of Abol Hassan Saba, a legendary
figure in Persian classical music. In 1956 he was chosen by
Saba to participate in his orchestra, the first Orchestra of
the State Fine Arts Department of Iran, where he continued as
a soloist for many years. As a member of this orchestra and
other ensembles sponsored by the Iranian Government he has
performed on Tehran radio and television, concertized widely
and given command performances for visits of various foreign
dignitaries and heads of state from India, Pakistan, Turkey,
Denmark, Great Britain, The Netherlands and America. At the
same time he was engaged in teaching at the Conservatory of
Persian National Music in Tehran.
When he left his home country
for the United States in 1964, Iranian television produced a
farewell special dedicated to him. Upon his arrival in this
country, he quickly became a central figure in the cultural
lives of Persian Americans, a population that has grown from
several thousand to half a million in the Los Angeles area
alone.
Dr. Sadeghi has demonstrated his
mastery of the santur for audiences around the United States
but he also takes the time to teach students of Persian music.
He has recorded with artists such as Seals and Crofts and
Stephan Grapelli, reaching audiences unfamiliar with Persian
musical traditions. In addition, he has contributed to
academic scholarship on the subject, serving as a lecturer on
Persian music at the University of California, Los Angeles. He
recently realized a dream by founding the Nakisa Music
Institute and santur.com (an online music school) dedicated to
passing along knowledge and skills in Persian and world music.
Press Release
National Endowment for the Arts
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Information
about the National Endowment For The Arts, the ceremony
and concert.
In 1982, the
National Endowment for the Arts initiated the National
Heritage Fellowships to give national recognition to the
contributions of outstanding folk and traditional artists
across the nation. These fellowships represent the
highest form of federal recognition of folk and
traditional artists. Artists are nominated by fellow
citizens and are recommended by a panel of cultural
experts using as criteria for selection artistic
excellence and the individual’s contribution to our
nation’s cultural heritage. As a master traditional
artist you represent the very highest standards of
excellence in your particular art form and that you have
been selected for national recognition. Although a
National Heritage Fellowship is offered only once to any
particular artist, you will be glad to know that each year
another group of similar artists will be so honored.
We hope to
give out the fellowships during several days of events
here in Washington, D.C., over the periods of September
16-19, 2003. Each artist or group receiving a fellowship
will be invited to come to Washington D.C. at our expense.
To help make
things a bit more comfortable for you, you may bring one
family member (or friend) to Washington with you at our
expense also. The National Council for the Traditional
Arts, through a contractual arrangement with the National
Endowment for the Arts, is responsible for making the
travel arrangements and for producing the celebratory
events related to the National Heritage Fellowships.
While you
are in Washington D.C., in September, there will be a
formal presentation of certificates to you on Capitol
Hill. In addition, you and family members accompanying
you will be invited to a banquet at the Library of
Congress, and you will be participating in a gala evening
concert.
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