Ostad (“Master”) Mahmoud Zoufonoun ( Persian: 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. 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. 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 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 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 (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 Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

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, and The Danesh-e Sarah-e Honar.

Honors

On January 20, 2007, Z Venue, an arts non-profit organization located in Santa Clara County, 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.

Notable compositions

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