We Are God's Music - Meet the Musicians
September 29, 2008

Following is an introduction to each of the musicians who will perform in "Faces of Love Iran: We Are God's Music" on October 18.

Read a news release about "Faces of Love Iran: We Are God's Music"

Hossein Omoumi, ney and voice
www.omoumi.com
 Hossein Omoumi, born in 1944 in Esfahân, Iran, is a renowned master of classical Persian music. He received his first musical training from his father. At age fourteen he began his own studies of the instrument. He entered the National Conservatory of Music in Tehran in 1962 to study Vocal Radif and theory under Mahmoud Karimi and Farhad Fakhreddini. Since 1968 he has continued to study the technique of playing the ney and the repertoire of the school of Esfahân with Hassan Kassâi.

Omoumi is a noted scholar and teacher of Persian music. He has taught at the National Conservatory in Tehran, the Faculty of Arts at the University of Tehran, the Center for the Preservation and Diffusion of Persian Music in Iran, the CEMO at the Sorbonne, UCLA, and the University of Washington in Seattle. He is now Maseeh Professor in Performing Arts (Classical Persian music) at UC Irvine. Dr. Omoumi is also an architect, holding an M.A from the National University of Iran and a doctorate from the University of Florence, and taught architecture at the National University of Iran for 10 years. His performance career spans more than four decades and three continents, including appearances at many of the major concert halls and festivals of Europe, the United States, and Canada. He has recorded numerous albums, and appeared on many others including the sound track to The Sweet Hereafter winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1997. His research on the making of the ney (reed flute) and Persian percussion has opened up new possibilities and introduced significant innovations to the ney, tombak, dâyereh and daf.

Amir Koushkani, târ
www.koushkani.com
Amir Koushkani began his music appreciation at home when he was introduced to the classical Persian themes. At age thirteen, he began formal musical training in tar and setar, and after completing his program under the tutelage of Master Darioush Pirniakan, he became an instructor of tar at the age of nineteen at Iran’s Center for Preservation of Music. In 1991, Koushkani immigrated to Canada. He now lives in Toronto, where he continues to explore traditional music through composition and improvisation. He has also completed a Bachelor’s Degree in European modern composition at Simon Fraser University. He has composed works for theater, orchestra, solo performers, and chamber groups, including the Vancouver Ensemble Safa as well as commissions from the Pacific Baroque Ensemble, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, CBC Chamber Orchestra, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Jessika Kenney, voice
Vocalist Jessika Kenney, born in Spokane, Washington, has studied and worked with many musicians, including the great singer-teachers Nyi Supadmi in Central Java, and Jay Clayton at Cornish College of the Arts . In 2004 she began studying with Dr. Hossein Omoumi, and has been performing in his ensemble since 2006. Her love of Persian music and poetry grows out of a search for the subtleties and spirituality of the vocal arts. Jessika has also collaborated with artists such as Eyvind Kang, Jarrad Powell, Gamelan Pacifica, and Raz Mesinai, among many others. Her recordings include "The Stonehouse Songs" (Present Sounds 2007) with composer Jarrad Powell, and "Aestuarium¨(Endless 2006). She also appeared with singer Mike Patton as soloist in the choral piece "Athlantis" by Eyvind Kang (Ipecac 2007).

Eyvind Kang, viola
Eyvind Kang has released several recordings of his compositions, including the acclaimed choral piece "Athlantis" (2007). His music has been performed by the Orchestra Teatro Communale di Bologna, the Playground Ensemble, the Coro di Camera di Modena, and other ensembles. As a violist he has performed and recorded with many great musicians, including Bill Frisell, Laurie Anderson, Amir Koushkani, and Jessika Kenney. His teachers have included the great violinists Michael White and Dr. N. Rajam of India. Since 2006 he has worked and studied with Dr. Hossein Omoumi.

Ziya Tabassian, tombak and daf
www.ziyatabassian.com
Ziya Tabassian acquired his first tombak at the age of ten. From 1994 to 2001 he studied western classical percussion with Julien Grégoire in Montreal, and completed a Bachelor’s degree in percussion interpretation at the Université de Montréal. During the winter of 2002, Ziya went back to Iran for tombak training with M. Bahman Rajabi, and in 2003, he completed a residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts, where he explored contemporary music for Persian percussion.
Ziya plays in several early, contemporary, and world music ensembles and is an active and a co-founding member of the ensemble Constantinople (www.constantinople.ca). He has performed concerts in Canada, Mexico, Europe, the U.S.A., Middle East and Hong Kong. He has also released many CDs in collaboration with his brother, Kiya Tabassian, and with Constantinople, on the ATMA label, and recorded with many others, including the Kronos Quartet, Hossein Omoumi, En Chordais, Mercan Dede, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and Lo’Jo. He recently released his solo CD called TOMBAK, on Ambiances Magnétiques label.