Tirgan 2011 Artists

Music

Salar Aghili ( * Not Participating)

A prominent vocalist among the young generation of Iranian traditional musicians, Salar Aghili is known as an instrumental figure to pass on the values of Persian music ...

Ali Azimi (Radio Tehran Band)

RadioTehran is an Iranian indie rock band from Tehran, Iran. The band consists of Ali Azimi (lead vocals, guitar), Pedram Afshin (lead guitar, backing vocals), Hesam Garshasbi ...

Baarbad Ensemble

Baarbad Music was founded by Mehdi Rezania and Toloe Roushenas in 2004 with the goal of producing a unique and artistic sound based on classical music of ...

Kamelia Dara

Kamelia is a prodigy of today's Persian Opera. Her voice has a warm timbre and a dark color.Born to a musically inclined ...

Rana Farhan

A singer in Jazz and Blues styles, Rana has been on a constant journey to re-explore and re-interpret Persian poetry in the context of such contemporary musical ...

Maziar Heidari

Maziar started learning playing a Piano in 1980, attending lessons offered by Ardeshir Rohani, a well known piano instructor. He graduated from the ....

Radio Javan House DJ

Amir Kazemi aka DJ Delbar has more than thirteen years of experience in spinning the best Persian, International and House music. He is also a co-founder of RadioJavan ...

Vahid Monji

Vahid Monji is a Toronto-based singer, songwriter, and musician. He sought vocal training with late Mohammad Nouri and guitar lessons with Payam Salehi...

Hamid Motebassem ( * Not Participating)

Hamid Motebassem has established himself as a master of traditional Persian music by his numerous innovative creations and performances all over the globe. His crisp ...

King Raam

King Raam is the lead singer of Hypernova, a post-punk band born in the undergrounds of Tehran. Growing up amongst a generation whose voices are often ...

Sepideh Raissadat

Sepideh Raissadat has a unique place amongst Iranian female vocalists for her daring, masterful solo performances where she combines vocals and setar. At the age of eighteen...

Sarv Ensemble

Sarv Ensemble is a traditional Persian music ensemble formed in 2010. Drawing inspiration from diverse classical and folk traditions across Iran, our aim is to perform...

Shanbezadeh Ensemble

Shanbehzadeh Ensemble offers a unique variety of hypnotic dances and traditional music from southern Iran and more precisely from the unknown region of Boushehr ...

Kamal Taravati

A pioneer of Iranian choir music in Canada, Kamal Taravati should be praised for his tireless efforts in founding, organizing, teaching, and leading Iranian National Choir ...

Vesal Ensemble

Founded by Arjang Seyfizadeh in 2000, Vesal has performed in numerous events in Iran, Iraq, and Portugal. Vesal has also released four CDs in traditional Persian music ...

Rising Talents

Maneli Jamal

An award winning solo acoustic guitarist, Maneli Jamal offers a new perspective on acoustic guitar with both eastern and western influences. Combining folk, Flamenco...

Saman Shahi

An Iranian-Canadian composer and pianist, Shahi started his music education in his teens. Later in Canada, he obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in Composition and...

Maryam Toumrai

An Iranian Canadian vocalist with years of training in western classical singing, Maryam is a graduate of York University Creative Arts program. She has been active in...

Dance

Ayar Ensemble

Ayar (Happiness in Azeri) Dance Ensemble was founded in Toronto, Canada. Members of Ayar Ensemble have been performing since 2006 at various venues and cultural events in Toronto such as ...

Laurel Victoria Gray

Founded by Artistic Director Dr. Laurel Victoria Gray in 1995, the award-winning Silk Road Dance Company (SRDC) presents women's dance traditions from along the Great Silk Road ...

Nima Kiann

A visionary with laudable determination and perseverance, Nima Kiann founded "Les Ballets Persans" in 2002 as the reincarnation of the former Iranian National Ballet. The company's ...

Kurdish House Dance Group

Kurdish dances reflect aspects of Kurdish life over the past thousands of years. Rhythmic and elegant movements are called Halparke. The dancers, hand in hand, are depositaries of...

Ida Saki

Ida Saki, originally from Dallas, Texas, is attending her first year at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Ida has created a name for herself within the dance world ...

Literature

Dr. Mohammad Ebrahim Bastani Parizi

With over sixty books and hundreds of articles in the fields of Iranian history, geography, and literature, Professor Bastani Parizi holds a unique position ...

Simin Behbahani

A nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997, Simin Behbahani is one of the most prominent contributors to Persian poetry in the twentieth century. She has ...

Dr. Mohammad Estelami

Dr. Mohammad Estelami is the author and editor of over twenty volumes of books, literary texts, and references in the field of Persian Sufi literature. Having received ...

Asef Fekrat

Born in Herat, Prof. Fekrat earned his bachelor degree in Persian language and literature from Kabul University and his masters’ degree in journalism in India ...

Abbas Maroufi

A graduate of Fine Arts from Tehran University with a prodigious artistic talent, Maroufi has been director of Tehran Symphony Orchestra, founder of Tehran-based ...

Shahrnush Parsipur

prolific author whose writings encompass a whole multitude of literary genres, Shahrnush Parsipur started her writing career at the early age of sixteen. A graduate of Sociology ...

Film

Bahram Beyzai

With over one hundred plays, film scripts, and articles on literature and dramatic arts, Beyzai is one of the most productive Iranian artists. He wrote his most famous ...

Bahman Farmanara

Bahman Farmanara started his film career with the popular TV series "House of Qamar Khanom", which was later adapted to his first feature film in 1972. His recognition as a pioneer ...

Ebrahim Golestan

A pioneer in filmmaking and literature, Ebrahim Golestan has influenced generations of Iranians in various fields of art for more than ...

Mohammad Rasoulof

Mohammad Rasoulof, an Iranian independent filmmaker, was born in Shiraz in 1973. He studied sociology at Shiraz University and film editing at Sooreh Higher Education ...

Theatre

Shahrokh Moshkin Ghalam

An official member of the "Comédie Fançaise" (The House of Molière), Moshkin Ghalam graduated from the University of Paris with a degree in History of Art and Theatre. He joined...

Gordafarid

The first female naqqal (storyteller) of Ferdowsi's "Book of Kings", Gordafarid, has excelled in performing traditional narration of epic stories (naqqali) through twelve ...

Sadreddin Zahed

An actor, director, educator, writer, and translator of significant contributions, Zahed began his theatrical career in The Theatre Workshop while he ...

Visual Arts - Visions of Eternity

Sanaz Mazinani - Curator

An independent curator, artist, and educator, Mazinani is currently completing her Masters in Fine Art at Stanford University. She received her undergraduate degree in ...

Abbas Akhavan

Born in Tehran, Abbas Akhavan currently lives and works in Toronto. His practice ranges from site-specific ephemeral installations to drawing, video and ...

Reza Derakhshani

Reza Derakhshani's paintings present a panoramic view of a wide range of original styles from extremely poetic works such as "Khosrow and Shirin" series to the ...

Parastou Forouhar

Through her photographs, installations, and multi-media presentations, Parastou Forouhar recounts the conflict between beauty and violence and at the same time ...

Tahereh Goodarzy and Atefeh Khas

Goodarzy and Khas often work in collaboration to make large-scale outdoor installations, dealing with the environment. Frequently travelling across Iran to ...

Oldouz Moslemian

Oldouz Moslemian is a Toronto-based textile designer and artist. She graduated with a Material Art and Design Bachelor from Ontario College of Art & Design University ...

Taimaz Moslemian

Taimaz Moslemian is a Toronto-based artist currently completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the Ontario College of Art & Design University. His interdisciplinary ...

Nasser Ovissi

With exhibitions spanning across the globe from Brazil to Japan, Europe, and the United States, Nasser Ovissi has firmly established himself as a brilliant and ...

Hamed Sahihi

Born in 1980 in Tehran, Hamed Sahihi received his BA in painting and his graduate degree from the Iranian Young Filmmaker Society later in 2003. Sahihi's intriguing ...

Soody Sharifi

Houston-based multidisciplinary artist, Sharifi obtained her Master of Fine Arts degree in Studio Photography at the University of Houston. Her work primarily deals with ...

Ali Soltani

A painter and a sculptor, Ali Soltani was born in Tehran in 1969. He began drawing at the age of three and started his formal training as the age of thirteen with ...

Visual Arts - Persianissimo +10

Majid Abbasi - Curator

A graduate of visual communications from Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran, Majid Abbasi has led and carried out numerous graphic design projects that cover ...

Family Activities

Minou Akhlaghi

Minou began her training in dance with Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre in 1994. Since then, she has performed in numerous cultural and artistic events ...

Ariel Balevi

Ariel is a storyteller whose repertoire derives from the literary and folklore traditions of Iran, Turkey, the Middle East and Central Asia: the Firdowsi's Book of Kings ...

Vida Ghahremani

Her childhood passion for dolls, puppets, and stage led Vida to set out on a remarkable journey of bringing puppets to life on live stage as well as the screen. An award winning ...

Ava Homa

Ava Homa is a writer, a story teller and a story writing teacher. She received her Master’s degree in English and Creative Writing from University of Windsor ...

Araz Nayeb Pashayee

Araz Nayeb Pashayee is a multi-disciplinary percussionist specializing on Tombak (Iranian goblet drum), Daf (Iranian frame drum) and Udu (African drum). He started ...

Arjang Seyfizadeh

Born to a family of musicians and vocalists in 1983 in Tehran, Arjang began his training in tonbak with Naser Farhangfar at the age of five and ...

We were just informed that Hamid Motebassem and Salar Aghili will not be able to perform with the Pardis orchestra at the Tirgan Opening Concert due to unforeseen circumstances. However we are happy to let you know that Pardis orchestra will be featuring Toronto’s accomplished conductor Maziar Heidari, accompanied by talented solo vocalist Kamelia Dara from Austria.