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...
Iran Continues to Ban Actors Who Were Famous Before the Revolution
By Azadeh Karimi
The chairman of the Fajr International Film Festival (FIFF) has turned down Mohsen Amiryoussefi’s 2013 feature-length film “Lovely Trash–Original” (Ashghal-Haye Doost Dashtani-Asli), starring veteran actor Behrouz Vossoughi (1938-), the Tehran-based Cinema-Cinema news...
Iranian-Born Ricci Moshir Wins Top Reggae Award For His Song ‘Wakayo’
By Fred Parvaneh
Last November, Ricci Moshir (aka XOrasta Ricci) -- singer, songwriter, and leader of the band “Ricci and the Tic Tac Toes” -- won the award for Best Reggae Music for his song...
Iran’s Ministry of Culture Stops Release of Album Containing Rumi Poem
By Azadeh Karimi
The poetry committee of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance’s Office for Music has refused to issue a permit to Iranian singer-songwriter Mohsen Chavoshi for the release of his latest album...
Iran Has Banned 52 Women Musicians from Performing Since January
The Iranian authorities have banned the cellist Elmira Nematzadeh and the daf player Negar Ezazi, two female members of the music band Hamnavazan Hesar, from accompanying the tar virtuoso, songwriter and singer Ali Ghamsari...
Making History: Andy Madadian Gets Star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame
By Fred Parvaneh
On January 17th, the singer and actor Andy Madadian -- nicknamed "the Persian Bono" -- was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, making him the first Iranian-Armenian-American to be...
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...
Shakespeare in Farsi: London’s Saam Theatre Group Turns Newly Arrived Iranians into Actors
By Susanna Huth
Every September, a Persian-English theater festival is organized in London. Highly popular with the Iranian community, it brings together drama talents from all over the world to celebrate aspects of Iranian culture in both Farsi and English.
Every September, a Persian-English theater festival is organized in London. Highly popular with the Iranian community, it brings together drama talents from all over the world to celebrate aspects of Iranian culture in both Farsi and English.
Victims of 1988 Mass Murders in Iran Remembered in Play by Niloofar Beyzaie
By Azadeh Karimi
The latest work by the Iranian playwright and theater director Niloofar Beyzaie (1967-) titled “Missing Persons” made its theatrical debut in early September in Frankfurt. The two-character play commemorates the victims of...
‘The World’s Fastest Fingers’: Percussionist Mohammad Reza Mortazavi
By Azadeh Karimi and Ali Eshtyagh
Mohammad Reza Mortazavi is an Iranian percussionist once described by a German TV channel as "the fastest fingers in the world." Growing up in Isfahan, he began taking drum lessons when he was six years old, and was so prodigiously gifted that his tombak (percussion) teacher gave up teaching him after three years. Four years later,
Mohammad Reza Mortazavi is an Iranian percussionist once described by a German TV channel as "the fastest fingers in the world." Growing up in Isfahan, he began taking drum lessons when he was six years old, and was so prodigiously gifted that his tombak (percussion) teacher gave up teaching him after three years. Four years later,
