Paulus Khofri ( syr, ܦܘܠܘܣ ܟܦܪܝ, fa, پولوس خفری), was an

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

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 ...

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. He was born August 7, 1923, in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and died in

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 ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in May 2000 at the age of 77.

Biography

Paulus Khofri's father, Jibrael Khofri, and his mother Victoria, were of Assyrian descent and originally from Iran. They fled Iran during the

Assyrian Genocide The Sayfo or the Seyfo (; see below), also known as the Assyrian genocide, was the mass slaughter and deportation of Assyrian / Syriac Christians in southeastern Anatolia and Persia's Azerbaijan province by Ottoman forces and some Kurdish t ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, migrating to Iraq, where they lived for many years. In 1928, the Khofri family returned to Iran and settled in

Kermanshah Kermanshah ( fa, کرمانشاه, Kermânšâh ), also known as Kermashan (; romanized: Kirmaşan), is the capital of Kermanshah Province, located from Tehran in the western part of Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population is 946,68 ...

in Western Iran. Khofri grew up in Kermanshah and graduated from high school there. Khofri's father was an

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

player who inspired his son to learn the instrument. Khofri soon began to develop popular Assyrian music into a classical style; eventually, this led to the establishment of the ''Assyrian Music Ensemble,'' which performed many concerts for the Assyrian community in Kermanshah. Khofri continued his musical studies in composition through correspondence courses from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and finally obtained a diploma in music composition and harmony from the ''United States School of Music'', a correspondence school located in Port Washington,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Khofri conducted the ''Saint Joseph Catholic Church Choir'' in Tehran for many years and also taught piano and music on the side while working for the ''Iranian Oil Company'' until his retirement. Khofri is credited with composing numerous Assyrian folk songs in both

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic Suret ( syr, ܣܘܪܝܬ) ( �su:rɪtʰor �su:rɪθ, also known as Assyrian or Chaldean, refers to the varieties of Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) spoken by ethnic Assyrians, including those identifying as religious groups rather than eth ...

and

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 ...

. An accomplished painter, along with these musical compositions, he often included

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of Terrestrial ecoregion, land, its landforms, and how they integrate with Nature, natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionar ...

of villages in

Urmia Urmia or Orumiyeh ( fa, ارومیه, Variously transliterated as ''Oroumieh'', ''Oroumiyeh'', ''Orūmīyeh'' and ''Urūmiyeh''.) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the capital of Urmia County. It is situated at an alt ...

done in black ink or water color. In 1985, the ''Assyrian Foundation of America'', in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, gave him an award in recognition of his work in Assyrian

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

Vocal music

*Book # 1 ''Yoomani'd Eda Soora'' (Christmas Days) for piano and vocal (Illustrated), 1972 *Book # 2 ''Zamrakh Am Ikhdadi'' (Sing Together) Tome 1 for piano and vocal (Illustrated), 1982 *Book #3 ''Sheeta'd IsreI Arba Yakhi'' (24 Months a Year) two songs for every month of the year with illustrations, 1982 *Book # 4 ''Zamrakh Mikhdadi'' (Sing together) Tome 2 classic folkloric song for 2, 3 and 4 voices, 1984 *Book # 5 ''Galli'd Zoomari'' Tome 3 for piano and vocals (illustrated), 1988 *Book # 6 ''Zmoor Blishanookh'' ( Sing in your Mother’s Language) for young singers, 1998 *Book # 7 ''Songs of Praise'' Tome 1 for Organ and Vocals, 1988

Instrumental Music

*Book # 1 ''Braghala'd Nemati'' Tome 2 No. 1 for piano, 1970 *Book # 2 ''Braghala'd Nemati'' Tome 2 No. 2 for Piano, 1980 *Book # 3 ''Assyrt'' Tome 1 classic folkloric music for piano, 1984 *Book # 4 ''Nemati Mbazgha'' Tome 1 No. 1 for piano, 1987 *Book # 5 ''Braghala'd Nemati'' Tome 2 No. 1 piano, violin, flute, guitar 1988. This book contains five parts: No. 1 Sonata in G minor for violin and cello, dedicated to Maestro William Daniel, Assyrian composer and author; No. 2 Sonata in G Major for piano, composed in Zurich,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, dedicated to

Issa Benyamin Issa Benyamin (May 15, 1924 – January 14, 2014) was an Iranian-Assyrian calligrapher and educator. Biography Assyrian calligrapher, Issa Benyamin was born to Assyrian parents, Mirza Benyamin Kaldani (1879-1966) and Esther in 1924 in Tabriz, Ira ...

, the famous Assyrian calligrapher; No. 3 Fantasia in G minor for flute and guitar, dedicated to Mr. Simon Tomik, a classical guitarist; No. 4 Suite in D minor for violin, flute, guitar and piano, titled ''Braghala min Toora'', dedicated to the Assyrian Highlanders; No. 5 ''Dipna'd Aina'' (Near the Spring) in D Major for flute, guitar and piano, composed for young girls in the villages bringing fresh cold water, in clay jars for their fathers working in the wheat fields

Orchestral music

*Book # 1 ''Assyrian Classic Folkloric Dance Compilation'', May 1998 *Book # 2 ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', May 1998

Famous quotes

*''Whatever reaches one's ears, reflects all tides of life this nation has undergone in the past, present and will experience in the future.

*''Music seeks to retain firmly that spirit, either sung by men and women praising God; or hummed by the farmer tilling his field. The joy of a young man whistling expecting to meet the girl he loves. The beating of the drum and the song of the fife in religious ''Shara'' (festivals). The blaring of the Brass instruments in anger, the wailing of the Oboe in sorrow, the intimate chatter of the string instruments all tell and paint vivid images of life in waves of sound. It is hoped, therefore, one can peep through this small window of music and see the revival of our past culture in budding.

References

* ''(original domain is parked)''