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(click
here for English Only) Joel Bellman, Press Deputy, 213 974-1031, http://zev.co.la.ca.us Lisa Richardson, Craft & Folk Art Museum, 323 937-7248 lisar@cafam.org Afshin Sadeghi, santur.com, 213 212-4000, info@santur.com Linda Chiavaroli, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, 323 871-4554, lchiavaroli@bos.co.la.ca.us 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 SadeghiBorn 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. 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 FellowshipsAs 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.
2003 National Heritage Fellowships
MANOOCHEHR SADEGHI 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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