Pejman Akbarzadeh | |
|---|---|
 Pejman Akbarzadeh, Tropentheater, Amsterdam, 2009 | |
| Born | 1980 (age 44–45) |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist, journalist, producer |
Pejman Akbarzadeh (Persian:پژمان اكبرزاده, born 1980) is aPersian-Dutch[1] pianist, journalist, music historian and documentary maker.
Born inShiraz in 1980, Akbarzadeh had his first music lessons at the age of nine from Gholam Loghmani and later from Bahram Nasrollahi. In 2001 moved to Tehran and continued his piano studies underFarman Behboud.[2]
At age fifteen he started to research the works and activities of twentieth-centuryPersian (Iranian) composers and conductors. Three years later he published the first volume of his projected four-volume work,Persian Musicians[3] which became a source for various publications such asEncyclopedia Iranica.[4]
Pejman Akbarzadeh has written articles in both Persian and English, mostly on cultural topics, which have been published in BBC Persian Service Online, "Persian Heritage Magazine" (New Jersey), "Shargh Newspaper" (Tehran), "Rahavard Quarterly" (Los Angeles), "Gooya.com" (Brussels), "Payvand.com" (San Francisco)... andYas-e-no Daily, which was banned in Iran in 2003.
From 2002 to 2006 Akbarzadeh was the representative ofPersian Gulf Online organization in Tehran. He has published various articles about this waterway in both English and Persian.[5]He also lectured at the Persian Studies Foundation conference in Shiraz and Iranian Artists Forum in Tehran. The text of most of these lectures were published in "Shargh" daily.[6]
In 2006, Akbarzadeh moved to theNetherlands, citing restrictions on musical life andfreedom of speech in Iran. For seven years he was a senior producer atRadio Zamaneh inAmsterdam. Currently he contributes to BBC Persian TV[7] and website.[8]
In March 2008 he performed the first Persian piano recital in Amsterdam. The sold-out concert atBethanienklooster resulted in further invitations to perform in Europe. In August 2008 Pejman dedicated his recital at the University ofCologne toAhmad Batebi, symbol of pro-democracy movement ofTehran University students, who fled to theUnited States after nine years of imprisonment in the same year.[9] In 2012 he performed atRoyal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
In 2008 Pejman also finished the firstdocumentary about the legendary Persian divaHayedeh who died in exile in 1990. The film was premiered on 24 January 2009 inAmsterdam[10] and nominated as the "best documentary" atNoor Iranian Film Festival inLos Angeles.[11] In the same year Pejman Akbarzadeh introducedPersian piano music at the Netherlands' Radio 5 (OBA Show) and in 2012 at Amsterdam Concertgebouw.[12]
In Summer 2009 following thepro-freedom demonstrations inIran which turned to blood, Pejman Akbarzadeh joined the solidarity events in Europe with the people of his homeland; performing at Holland's Iranian Artists Eve in Amsterdam,[13] "International Solidarity Conference with Iran's Students" at the University of Delft,[14] Human Rights and Press Freedom Conference at Amsterdam's Tropen Theatre and cooperation with UNITED4IRAN demonstrations were among them.[15]
Book
Film (Documentary)
Music (released pieces)
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