Drawing inspiration from archival exhibition catalogs of the Shiraz Festival in the Van Pelt collection, this concert features music by contemporary Iranian composers. Throughout its run from 1967 to 1977, the Shiraz Festival was host to an array of contemporary classical and avant garde composers from Europe and the United States. Among them were Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis, Olivier Messiaen, Bruno Maderna, John Cage, David Tudor, and Morton Feldman. A significant arts center, which was to include electronic music and recording studios, was planned as an outgrowth of the festival. While the complex politics of the Shah’s regime and the approaching revolution brought these developments to an end, the festival had broad and lasting impacts on contemporary and experimental music in Iran. This program includes music by Iranian composers, several generations removed from the festival, all living in exile, whose work is an example of this enduring legacy.

PROGRAM

Anahita Abbasi (1985): Seven Impressions

Alize Rozsnyai, soprano

Andy Thierauf, percussion

Farzia Fallah (1980): Posht-e Hichestan

Nicholas Handahl, flute

Sepehr Pirasteh (1993): Rubáiyát

Tom Kraines, cello

Aida Shirazi (1987): ephemera

Jonathan Leeds, clarinet

Andy Thierauf, percussion

Ashkan Behzadi (1983): Agony, Rage of Forgotten People, Elegy

Carlos Santiago, violin