An Interview with Amir Eslami
By Vahid Jahandari
Amir Eslami is a celebrated Iranian musician progressively introducing Persian music in the past three decades internationally through his pursuit as a composer, conductor, and performer of the musical instrument “ney,” a type of Persian flute that has been played for over 4,000 years.
I had the privilege of working with Eslami during my undergraduate studies at Tehran University of Art, where he served as a faculty member in music. He is the first Iranian to win first prize at the Concorso 2 Agosto International Composition Competition in Italy, where his symphonic work was premiered in Bologna in 2009 and broadcast in RAI. I interviewed Eslami to learn more about his background and current activities in Vancouver, Canada.
This interview has been edited for clarity and space considerations.
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Vahid Jahandari (VJ): Please tell us about your early life in Iran.
Amir Eslami (AE): I was born in Isfahan in 1971. As a child, I listened to popular music, particularly American icons. I grew up in a family when my mother was religious and my father, on the other hand, quite secular. In my teenage years, I observed my two brothers playing Persian instruments—tombak and santoor—and I gradually familiarized myself with traditional music.
I found a fascination with the music and virtuosic performance of Gheorghe Zamfir, the Romanian pan flute player. Despite my passion for learning this instrument, there was no instructor in this field in the city, and even to this date, I don’t believe there is any. Therefore, I took ney lessons while at Technical High School studying auto mechanics, since there was no music school at the time in Isfahan either. However, my concentration was primarily on my music performance practice.
My first concert was held at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in 1988 in celebration of Nima Yooshij, the contemporary Iranian poet. I took the entrance exams for admission to the BA Program in Music in 1991 at Tehran University of Art, where my application was considered.
VJ: How did you progress in your field of studies in Tehran?
AE: My studies in Tehran opened new perspectives in continuing my interests, emphasizing improvisation and composition. Working with Maestro Ahmad Pejman significantly influenced my life and career trajectory ever since. I then followed my composition studies and obtained a Master’s degree under his mentorship in 2004.
I have taught music courses as a music faculty member at Tehran University of Art since 2002. I have also served as the head of the Persian Music Department in 2005 and the Dean of Administration in 2012. I received three national prizes and won three international music awards from Italy, Australia, and the Netherlands by the time of my residency in Iran. Furthermore, I was recognized as the best lecturer among the music faculty in 2008 and the best researcher in 2009 for publishing the oldest Persian music repertoire.
VJ: When did you move to Canada, and what have you been working on recently?
AE: I immigrated to Vancouver in 2015, where I started working in a radio station, and I had a weekly program about Persian music and poetry, available on my YouTube channel. I established Rumi Records to release my music. I also initiated the HazarAva Ensemble with three female singers to perform Persian polyphonic songs, and I released an album with this ensemble in 2019 that recently received the Global Music Awards.
I founded the Vancouver Iranian Choir with several local musicians to perform Persian language choral pieces with roughly 40 members. I maintained the rehearsals with the choir online during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have organized singing classes for seniors with no prior knowledge of music theory and have had a pretty positive outcome.
Furthermore, I established the Iranian Music Society of British Columbia; currently, the association includes over 150 members. Ambleside Orchestra and Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra have also performed my pieces in the past few years. I continued teaching individual and group classes following my immigration. Virtual learning was not popular at that time, but I could effectively instruct students, so I devoted more time to pedagogy.
I have published many research studies on teaching children, applicants who aim to pass the entrance exam, and university students since 1996. My publications include new approaches to improvisation in Persian music and sight singing/ear training for Iranian students.
VJ: Why did you leave Iran, despite being a successful professor of music and having your own music institute?
AE: I had financial stability, secure positions, and well-established academic standing in Iran. However, I did not have a free mind as an artist, the safety in addressing my creative process the way I desired. I could not achieve in Tehran something I wished as a human being; the constraints and restrictions were unsettling. In Vancouver, my productions and all of the activities I pursue, ultimately my growth as a musician, were substantially heightened. I did not find the need to pursue my university employment in Tehran any further since I had the experience for over a decade, which was sufficient to integrate the expertise into my current and future works.
What matters the most, I believe, is to be thriving in your field and feel the progress and the pace of moving forward. Over the past seven years of my residency in Vancouver, I have been happier. Day by day, I have observed the transformation due to changes in lifestyle and freelance occupation I chose over remaining in Iran.
VJ: Why do you think Persian music has not spread across continents as much as Indian, Chinese, or Arabic music?
AE: I believe that in recent times musicians like Ostad Shajarian, Hossein Alizadeh, and Kayhan Kalhor have played a significant role in promoting Iranian art. One matter to consider is the much larger populations of the other nations you mentioned. It is also a matter of sociopolitical and religious conditions that have not allowed the music from Iran to be further accessible to the foreign audience. Yet, given all of the circumstances, Iranian communities outside the country can make a difference by supporting the provision of such an environment and allocating resources for more cultural events that represent our heritage.
Our Iranian expatriates are capable of improving the quality and range of activities by their local organizations. Today’s Iran suffers from a lack of adequate care and attention to these critical matters. We have the opportunity to raise awareness rather than the counterproductive effort of westernizing ourselves, extinguishing our rich history, and altering our identity to a superficial and supposedly protected presence in modern societies.
Unfortunately, we are facing a decline in faith in our roots when other nations from South Asia to the Middle East with similar struggles have been more prosperous in restoring their legacy by detaching from the politics of pollution, despite global challenges.
VJ: In what ways do you think our communities abroad can contribute to this output?
AE: For instance, our communities benefit from initiating and expanding Iranian choirs. In one aspect, the attendees learn singing skills and develop teamwork. In addition, their listening proficiency and understanding of layers of sounds that construct the music substantially increase by participating as one component in a collectively acquired soundscape.
The choristers gain knowledge in theory and vocal techniques during rehearsals, which helps become better listeners and musicians. It enables them to realize and adjudicate various styles of repertoires and elevate their aural perception.
The weekly rehearsals function as a celebration of the background every member brings to the space when, free from their personal beliefs, they can agree upon the regulations and objectives, and unify their voice to deliver the maximum impact. The importance of choir also concerns use of the native language which transcends communication through the foundation of music, the hope for solidarity. Moreover, the choir glorifies words and facilitates the transmission of the intended message.
VJ: What are your tendencies in writing music?
AE: My composition aesthetics are primarily drawn from the Dastgāh/Maqām system, from interval relationships to form. Persian literature inspires me the most, and I always strive to push the boundaries of tradition and what is given to us as pre-determined formulas. I believe our heritage offers so much potential that is yet to be tapped, not only by incorporating such elements into a pool of pre-existing genres and layouts, but also through reimagining the past within experimental context and innovating new methods of utilizing them.
VJ: I am grateful to you for having this interview with me. I look forward to hearing more about your achievements in the near future.
