Ostad Ustād or ostād (abbreviated as Ust., Ut. or Ud.; from Persian ) is an honorific title used in West Asia, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is used in various languages such as Persian, , Azerbaijani, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi ...

(“Master”) Mahmoud Zoufonoun (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: محمود ذوالفنون, sometimes pronounced "Zolfonoon" or "Zolfonun"; 1 January 1920 – 19 October 2013) was an Iranian-born American musician accomplished in the art of

Persian traditional music Persian traditional music or Iranian traditional music, also known as Persian classical music or Iranian classical music, refers to the classical music of Iran (also known as ''Persia''). It consists of characteristics developed through the coun ...

Life and career

Zoufonoun's interest in music began after he secretly listened to his father (Habib Zoufonoun) playing and teaching the

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bit ...

. Habib began teaching his son the instrument at age 8. Aged twelve, already having become a local teacher for tar, Zoufonoun became interested in the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

. Since he was unable to obtain an instrument of his own he designed and made his own instrument. In the 1930s Zoufonoun moved to

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...

where he learned musical notes from a clarinet teacher and took lessons in the violin. In 1936 (aged 16) Zoufonoun, at the prompting of his first violin teacher Mr. Vaziritabar, moved to

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

where he took lessons from Rouben Gregorian. In the early 1940s Zoufonoun began playing solo's on Radio Iran. In 1942 he helped form ''Anjomane Mooseeghee Melli'' where he met

Rouhollah Khaleghi Ruhollâh Xâleqi ( fa, , born 1906 in Kerman, Iran – 12 November 1965 in Salzburg, Austria), also spelled as ''Khaleqi'', was a prominent Iranian musician, composer, conductor and author. He was the father of the first Persian women conducto ...

(who conducted the orchestra). Zoufonoun worked as a soloist,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

and conductor at the National Radio and Television. He was a member of the “ Golha orchestra”. Over the course of his career he has made efforts to compile, transcribe a compilation of regional folk songs, modes, and styles to date. The work is currently uncompleted. Following his retirement in 1976 from the National Radio and Television, Mahmoud and his family emigrated to the US. He continued to teach and compose and perform traditional Persian music, usually with his sons as the

Zoufonoun Ensemble The Zoufonoun Ensemble was an American Persian classical music group, consisting of Mahmoud Zoufonoun (violin) and his four sons Amir Zoufonoun (vocals, setar), Ramin Zoufonoun (tar, Persian-tuned piano), Amin Zoufonoun (setar), and Omid Zoufo ...

. Image:Habib Zoufonoun1 (Medium).jpg, Photograph of Habib Zoufonoun (Mahmoud's father) making his own tar

Teaching

Zoufonoun also taught violin. Until his death, he gave lessons in his private studio and previously taught at the National School for Iranian Music (of which he was a founding member), The Shabaneh Adult Art School, Institute for the Arts, The

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...

, and The Danesh-e Sarah-e Honar.

Honors

On January 20, 2007, Z Venue, an arts

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

located in

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...

, presented "A Tribute to Mahmoud Zoufonoun" in the

Palace of Fine Arts The Palace of Fine Arts is a monumental structure located in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, originally constructed for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition to exhibit works of art. Completely rebuilt from 1964 to ...

Theatre,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Notable compositions

* Concerto Dashti for Symphony Orchestra * Tareneh Bayateh Tork (Golha Orchestra; Banan singing) * Taraneh Mahour: "Gol-o-Zaari" (Lyrics by

Hafez Khwāje Shams-od-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī ( fa, خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمّد حافظ شیرازی), known by his pen name Hafez (, ''Ḥāfeẓ'', 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper'; 1325–1390) and as "Hafiz", ...

) * Naghd-e-Sufi: Suite in Rastpanjgah, including several original Taranehs ("Bovad-aya", "Naghd-e-Sufi", "Baba Taher") * Faash-Mee-Gooyam: Suite in Chahargah, including original Taranehs ("Sheydaee", "Narm Narmak", "Faash-Mee-Gooyam") * Heelat-Raha-Kon: Suite in Oshagh, including original Taraneh "Heelat-Raha-Kon" * Anthem in Chahargah: "Vatan" (Lyrics by

Simin Behbahani Simin Behbahani, her surname also appears as Bihbahani (née Siminbar Khalili; fa, سیمین بهبهانی; 20 July 1927 – 19 August 2014) was a prominent Iranian contemporary poet, lyricist and activist. She is known for her poems in a ghaz ...

)

References

External links