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Behdad Moghaddasi
Guitar
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Behdad was the head of the guitar program at Azad University, Tehran, Iran,
before immigrating to the USA in March 2000. His lifelong interest in music
began at age 15, when he taught himself guitar by learning rock music of the
1970's.
In early 1980, he began studying classical guitar under Sadegh
Moazen, who had studied under John Duarte and Timothy Walker. After a short
time he recorded his first duet with Kazem Moazen.
Behdad is the only Iranian guitarist to have performed the Concerto
de Aranjuez with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra and Bahman Symphony Orchestra. He has given several concerts at
both Tehran and Azad
Universities. Furthermore, his benefit concert for the Children's Book Council of Iran was
recorded by Iran's International Television Broadcasting Company.
Under Mr.Mehran Rohany from
the Royal College of London, he studied harmony, counter point, and form.
Under Mr. Sharif Lotfi, Head of the Music Department of Tehran Art University,
he learned the basis of performance. He also studied Iranian traditional music
with Mr. Majid Kiani, the head of the Music Department of Tehran University.
His concert repertoire runs the gamut from Renaissance to
Modern
music. From 20th century music, he has played the works of Walton, Briten, Brouwer,
Frank Martin, Hentze, Rak, and Koshkin. He has given lectures with performance
in Modern and Programmatic music and on 20th Century guitar technique, using
Villa Lobos' 12 Etudes and Leo Brouwer's Etudes. Additionally, he has taught master classes for
architecture students about the relationship between music and architecture.
In 1993, he joined the Canningtown summer school master class in
England and studied with John Duarte and Riccardo Iznaola. At this master
class he was the finalist student performer.
As a composer his music blends the influence of the
West with traditional Iranian folk melodies in a modern music system.
Though well known in his native Iran, Behdad is relatively
new to music lovers in the West, but his gifted performances are introducing
him to a delighted American audience. The Philadelphia Classical Guitar
society says this about his performance: "A recent Iranian immigrant who has
taken this country by storm."
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