The Zoufonoun Ensemble was an American

Persian classical 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 ...

group, consisting of

Mahmoud Zoufonoun Ustad, Ostad (“Master”) Mahmoud Zoufonoun (Persian language, Persian: محمود ذوالفنون, sometimes pronounced "Zolfonoon" or "Zolfonun"; 1 January 1920 – 19 October 2013) was an Iranian-born American musician accomplished in the a ...

(violin) and his four sons Amir Zoufonoun (vocals,

setar A setar ( fa, سه‌تار, ) is a stringed instrument, a type of lute used in Persian traditional music, played solo or accompanying voice. It is a member of the tanbur family of long-necked lutes with a range of more than two and a half octa ...

), Ramin Zoufonoun (

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 ...

, Persian-tuned piano), Amin Zoufonoun (setar), and Omid Zoufonoun (cello). The ensemble was based in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

History

A variety of

percussionists A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...

have performed with the group, including Shahram Kazemi, Houman Pourmehdi, and Siamak Pouyan. The group performs large-scale suites composed by Mahmoud Zoufonoun while presenting vocal and instrumental improvisations by each member. Notable among these compositions is ''Naghde Sufi'' (suite in the mode of Rastpanjgah), and ''Fash Migooyam'' (suite in the mode of Chahargah). In recent years, through the addition of cello, Omid Zoufonoun has expanded the compositions to include elements of Western counterpoint and harmony. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Zoufonoun Ensemble has performed throughout the United States, including such venues as the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

;

Herbst Theatre The Herbst Theatre is an auditorium in the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in the Civic Center, San Francisco. The 928-seat hall hosts programs as diverse as ''City Arts & Lectures'', SF Jazz, and San Francisco Performances. Architectu ...

; and 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 ...

. In 2013, Mahmoud Zoufonoun died.{{Cite web , date=2014 , title=Commemoration of Maestro Mahmoud Zoufonoun , url=https://iranian-studies.stanford.edu/events/stanford-festival-iranian-arts-events/commemoration-maestro-mahmoud-zoufonoun , access-date=2022-10-20 , website=Iranian Studies, Stanford University , language=en

Notes

Zoufonoun ensemble Musical groups from the San Francisco Bay Area 2013 disestablishments in California

History

See also

Notes