Kayhan Life Interviews Niyaz, the Iranian Musical Duo
By Ahmad Rafat
Niyaz is an Iranian musical duo created by the singer Azam Ali — formerly part of the group VAS — and her husband Loga Ramin Torkian, from the Iranian crossover group Axiom...
Teaching Tar and Setar on YouTube: Interview with Sahba Motallebi
By Firouzeh Ramezanzadeh
Sahba Motallebi is an Iranian musician, songwriter and player of tar and setar (Iranian string instruments) Motallebi was born in 1978 in Tehran. She is a graduate of the Tehran Conservatory of...
Composing the Track for “1979 Revolution”: Interview with Nima Fakhrara
By Fred Parvaneh
Los Angeles resident Nima Fakhrara is one of three Iranian score composers in the film, television and video-game composition industry. Fakhrara has worked on a number of hit video-game scores including “Detroit:...
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 Pop Singer Banned After Releasing Anti-War Music Video
The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has banned Iranian pop singer Mehdi Yarrahi from recording and performing in public following the release of his anti-war music video “Pareh Sang” (Broken Rock) which the...
L.A. Rock Vocalist Soraya Sebghati Would Love to Perform in Iran
By Fred Parvaneh
Soraya Sebghati is a songwriter and the lead vocalist of Night Talks (NightTalkstheband.com), a Los-Angeles-based alternative rock band.
The group’s debut album “In Dreams” got strong reviews, and the first single “Green” was...
Paris-Based Vocalist Darya Dadvar Longs to Perform in Her Native Iran
Darya Dadvar was born with a beautiful voice, and a love of poetry and music. The Paris-based vocalist and opera singer – whose name means 'sea' in Persian – has endless affection for her native Iran....
The Iranian Soprano: Interview with Shaqayeq Kamali
By Firoozeh Ramezanzadeh
The Iranian soprano Shaqayeq Kamali was born in Tehran. She studied piano and voice at Tehran University’s School of Arts. She left Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and continued her studies...
Iranian Film and Theater Actress Shahla Riahi Dies Aged 92
By Azadeh Karimi
Shahla Riahi, the renowned film and stage actress and Iran’s first female director, died on December 31 in Tehran aged 92, according to Abbas Azimi, the manager of the Veteran Artists Institute.
Ms....
Women-Only Cast in Iran to Perform Bizet’s ‘Carmen’ for Women-Only Audience
An all-female production of Carmen, the famous opera written by the French composer George Bizet (1838 – 1875), is soon to be staged for an all-women audience at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall, formerly known as...
