Persian santour
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Sourena Sefati is a virtuoso player and composer on the Iranian santour, heir to a heritage of Persian music that stretches back to 700 BCE. While Sefati is deeply rooted in this ancient tradition, he carries it into the modern era with stunning original compositions that reveal the extraordinary breadth of expression concealed in this ancient instrument’s small wooden frame.
Sourena, born in Ramsar, Iran, was drawn to the santour at an early age, and decided to dedicate his life to mastering the complexity of the trapezoidal box’s 72 metal strings and three-octave range. The santour is the likely ancestor of many related plucked and struck instruments, including the Chinese yangqin, the Greek santouri, the Eastern European cimbalom, and the hammered dulcimer now popular in America, as well as the probable predecessor of the clavichord and the piano. Played by striking the courses of strings with delicate, felt-tipped wooden mallets, or mezrabs, the instrument has changed little since it was first depicted in inscriptions in Susa, Iran, almost 3,000 years ago.
The Persian classical music Sefati performs consists of a traditional repertoire of approximately 300 short melodies known as the radif. In performance, these melodies form the basis for extended improvisations. Persian classical musicians are judged mainly on their knowledge of the radif as well as their ability to improvise upon them.
After earning degrees in music and Iranian music performance in Tehran, Sefati embarked on a successful career as a performer and composer, winning an award for Best Composer of Iranian Music, appearing on over 50 recordings, and earning commissions to compose for Iranian orchestras and ensembles. In addition to performing as a featured soloist with Iranian Broadcasting and Chamber Orchestras, his album Az Roozegare Amiz (From Deceitful Ages) won him an award for best composer in Iran.
After touring Africa, Asia, and Europe, Sourena moved to the United States in 2014, settling in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Shortly thereafter, he began collaborating with Iraqi oud master and Rahim AlHaj—a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship. The duo continues to perform together frequently.
Sefati also performs with several other ensembles that he leads, including the Alborz Trio, the NuAeen Ensemble, and the Nava Persian Trio, who will be performing with Sourena at the 2021 Richmond Folk Festival. In addition to Sefati, who plays santour and sings, the group includes Mehdi Bagheri on kamancheh (spiked fiddle) and vocals, and Erfan Nazemzadeh on percussion.
Not only has his mastery of the santour enabled Sourena to establish himself in the U.S.; it has also provided him with an outlet to express his longing for his family and maintain a vital connection to Iran. Once, he recalls, “I started playing santour while I was thinking and crying and from those emotions I wrote ‘To My Beloved Motherland,’” the first track on his 2018 album, The Sound of Peace. Playing and composing this timeless music from his adopted home in the American Southwest, Sourena Sefati honors his homeland as well as history, family, and tradition.