Tehranchian Becomes First Female Singer to Record Rabbana Prayer
Leila Tehranchian is the first female singer ever to have released a recording of the Rabbana prayer pronounced during the holy month of Ramadan.
Ms. Tehranchian’s version of the Rabbana prayer is, however, only available...
Playing Heavy Metal and Drumming as a Woman in the Islamic Republic of Iran...
By Natasha Phillips
Pioneering Iranian musician Shirin Vazei has played the drums for several rock bands in Iran, taking the heavy metal scene by storm while shaking up gender stereotypes in her home country.
Heavy metal...
Cannes Festival Presents Movie by British-Iranian Director Babak Anvari
The British-Iranian director Babak Anvari’s latest film, “Wounds,” has been selected by the Cannes Film Festival this year in its parallel Directors’ Fortnight section. No awards are given out in that section.
“Wounds,” which is...
Rock Concerts Banned at Tehran Music Festival, Azadi Tower
The public relations office of the Azadi Tower Art Complex (formerly known as Shahyad) has announced that the venue will not host any rock concerts until further notice. The decision will deprive all independent...
Getty Villa’s Open-Air Persian Concerts Feature Fared Shafinury, Awardwinning Setar Virtuoso
By Fred Parvaneh
On June 25, 2022, Farhang Foundation, a nonprofit organization established to celebrate and promote Iranian art and culture, presented their second concert in a series at the Getty Villa’s open-air amphitheater. The...
Sixteen-Month Incarceration of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Inspires New London Play
By Tara Biglari
A play inspired by the plight of British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – a Thomson Reuters Foundation employee incarcerated in Iran for more than a year and separated from her husband and young daughter...
Vigen, Iran’s ‘Sultan of Pop’: Profile
Vigen was Iran’s first male pop star. He was known as “the Sultan of pop,” and one of the first entertainers in the country to perform with a guitar in the 1950s and 1960s.
He...
Iran Treasury to Receive 10% of Concert Ticket Sale Proceeds
The Iranian Musicians Union released a statement on March 19 criticizing recent legislation which requires performers to give 10 percent of the proceeds of concert ticket sales to the state treasury. The union has...
Working with Tupac: Interview with Music Video Producer-Director Rahimi
By: Fred Parvaneh
As a lifelong lover of music, Gobi M. Rahimi is a prolific music video producer and director who has worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Snoop...
Iranian Stage Directors Face Difficulty Adapting Persian Works, Playwright Says
By Azadeh Karimi
There are fewer restrictions on Iranian authors living in the Islamic Republic to write about other countries than their own, Hamidreza Naeimi, playwright, and theatre director has said.
“The only thing that can...
