Music & Dance
IMAMYAR HASANOV and PEJMAN HADADI
Washington, D.C
Music from Azerbaijan and Iran
Kamança (pronounced kah-mahn-chah) is to Azerbaijani folk ensemble as a violin is to symphonic orchestra, and is, in fact, an ancestor of the violin. Played with a bow (kamança means “little bow”), the instrument is widespread amongst Eastern and Central Asian peoples. The earlier kamanças found in Azerbaijan were made of pumpkin and the wood of nutmeg and decorated with ivory. The one- and two-stringed kamanças are thought to be descendants of the ancient Azerbaijani instrument, gopuz, which is also played with a bow.
Imamyar Hasanov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1975. He started playing the kamança at the age of seven and eventually became the youngest soloist in Azerbaijan's National Music Instruments Orchestra. He has a master's degree in art and music from the Azerbaijan State. During his studies, he worked with Professor Agha Jabrayil Abasaliyev, who instructed him in the art of mugham, one of the many Azerbaijani folk musical compositions that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific local modes. Imamyar is the winner of several national and classical music competitions in Azerbaijan.
At the Great Lakes Folk Festival, Imamyar will be joined by Iranian percussionist Pejman Hadadi on the tombak and daf (frame drum). Born in Tehran in 1969, Pejman began playing tombak at the age of ten under the tutelage of masters Asadollah Hejazi and Bahman Rajabi. In 1990, he immigrated to the United States and began his professional career as a performing and recording artist with ensembles of Persian classical music as well as Indian, Turkish and American musicians. In 1995, he joined Dastan Ensemble, considered one of today's leading Iranian music ensembles. He has also been the resident composer and performer with a Persian contemporary dance group, Namah Ensemble and has written compositions for dance.
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