Twinkle, Twinkle, 2 Bright Stars....

If you don't know who Mohsen Namjoo or Tara Kamangar are, please rectify that ASAP!

If you do know them and haven't seen their work lately, please do yourself a favor and pray that the opportunity comes up soon.

It is odd to mention these two passionate artists together. One being a Harvard educated classical pianist and the other being the Iranian Bob Dylan on the Lute. However, last night, in what was an ABSOLUTE TREAT, the two came together for a performance organized by the Stanford University’s Iranian Studies Program (Thank you!).

Before going further let me add that this is one of the things that I love about Silicon Valley and the Bay Area... The best of the world's artists, thinkers, and writers seem to make their way out here quite often and without much fanfare... and we get to experience unique collaborations such as this one with Tara and Namjoo...

What Tara Kamangar and Mohsen Namjoo have in common besides being able to completely transfer you to another world with their respective performances, is that they are each passionately preserving classical Iranian music and making it cool to listen to not only for Iranians but also for international audiences.

Although her performance last night was as a guest pianist at the Namjoo concert, Tara Kamangar's diverse repertoire ranges from Bach and Chopin to rarely heard music by Iranian composers Aminollah Hossein, Loris Tjeknavorian, and Hormoz Farhat. She has recently recorded the complete piano works of Iran's leading female composer, Golnoush Khaleghi, at the composer's request. She will delight you and move you with her performance, and make you run home to Google the amazing composers that she is bringing to life...

And the talented Mr. Namjoo you ask? He is a musical genius to say the least... and a historian, a sociologist, a poet, an actor, an accomplished setar and guitar player, and a scholar of Iranian and Western music... Last night he sported a brand new haircut and spoke softly in English in between his songs...

If you find it hard to understand all his lyrics, let it go… just listen as you would Gypsy Kings or Julio (that's if you are not Spanish speaking), before long the magic of his lyrics and music will seep into you… I guarantee!

So I will close with this: If you are a cultured person in the know, you better know Tara Kamangar and Mohsen Namjoo. They are both making beautiful sounding history...

* Mohsen Namjoo picture from Stanford.edu
* Tara Kamangar picture from Taraartemis.com

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