Tehran – Veteran Iranian classical composer and musician Ahmad Payman passed away on August 29th in Los Angeles, USA.
Payman, known for his work in opera, symphony and film music, passed away on Friday evening at the age of 90 after a long period of illness, the IRNA reported.
Born in Ra, Faz Province, Peziman was exposed to the sounds and rhythms of southern Iran from a young age. In high school, he began violin lessons with Heshmato Sanjali and Hossein Nassech in Music Theory.
As a young violinist of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, he was awarded a scholarship to study composition at the Academy of Music in Vienna. He studied composition with Thomas Christian David, Alfred Ur and Hands Jelinek. As a first-year student at the Academy, Payman’s composition was performed by the Chamber Orchestra of Vienna, and his orchestral work Rhapsody was performed by the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.
After graduating from the Vienna Academy of Music, Payman returned to Iran in 1968 and was asked to write the opera “Hero of Sand,” based on the legendary Persian hero Babak Kolamin. Between 1969 and 1978, Payman continued to compose symphonic works, operas and ballets, and wrote many scores for films and television shows.
In 1976 he moved to New York, where he entered the PhD in Music Programs at Columbia University in New York, continuing his research with Brent Allel, Vladimir Usachevsky and Jack Beason.
In 1984, Payman moved to Los Angeles, where he continued to compose and arrange music for jazz and pop ensembles and films.
In the early 1990s, Payman decided to return to Iran and continued his long-term dedication to film documentaries for directors, including Majid Majidi, Berman Farmanala, Rahshan Banietemad and Mohsen Mahmalbah. He won two Crystal Simoog Awards at the FAJR Film Festival and four awards at the Iranian Film Festival.
In 1992 he was asked to write a choir and orchestra cantata for the liberation of Khorramshahr. He was then asked to write music for the musical theatre, which will be performed at the Vadat Hall in Tehran. Since 1993, Payman has written film music, composed for orchestras and choirs, and released a variety of soundtracks and CDs.
“Resurrection Concert” or “Persian Nights with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra” took place in 2019 at Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre, featuring the Vancouver Bach Choir, paying tribute to Ahmad Payman. For the first time in Canada, 150 professional musicians decorated the spectacular Orphaum Theater and performed masterpieces by Iranian composers who are renowned for Persian night concerts. Three movements, the symphony poem “The Sudden Resurrection,” composed by Ahmad Peiman, were held at this concert, conducted by Leslie Dara.
Works by other Iranian composers, Loris Chen Flavor, Hushan Kamkar, Homayon Holam, Golamusain Mimbashian, Fardin Karatbali, Mahyaar Alizadeh, Ramin Jamalpur and Saman Samimi were also found in the concert repertoire. Alireza Ghorbani and Talin Ohanian were vocalists at the concert.
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