Pejman Akbarzadeh

Pejman Akbarzadeh (Persian:پژمان اكبرزاده) is a Persian (Iranian) musician, researcher, journalist and radio producer.

Early life

Born in Shiraz in 1980, Akbarzadeh had his first music lessons at the age of nine from Gholam Loghmani and later from Bahram Nasrollahi. In 2001 moved to Tehran and continued his piano studies under Farman Behboud.

"Persian Musicians" project

At age fifteen he started to research the works and activities of twentieth-century Persian (Iranian) composers and conductors. Three years later he published the first volume of his projected four-volume work, Persian Musicians.

Journalism

Pejman Akbarzadeh has written articles in both Persian and English, mostly on cultural topics, which have been published in BBC Persian Service Online, "Persian Heritage Magazine" (New Jersey), "Shargh Newspaper" (Tehran), "Rahavard Quarterly" (Los Angeles), "Gooya.com" (Brussels), "Payvand.com" (San Francisco)... and Yas-e-no Daily, which was banned in Iran in 2003.

Persian Gulf Studies

From 2002 to 2006 Akbarzadeh represented the Persian Gulf Online organization in Tehran. He has published various articles about this waterway and lectured at the Persian Studies Foundation conference in Shiraz and Iranian Artists Forum in Tehran.

Move to the Netherlands

In 2006, Akbarzadeh moved to the Netherlands, citing restrictions on musical life and freedom of speech in Iran. He is currently the music director and producer at Radio Zamaneh in Amsterdam.

In March 2008 he performed the first Persian piano recital in Amsterdam. The sold-out concert at Bethanienklooster resulted in further invitations to perform in Germany and Canada. In August 2008 Pejman dedicated his recital at the University of Cologne to Ahmad Batebi, symbol of pro-democracy movement of Tehran University students, who fled to the US after nine years of imprisonment in the same year.

Bibliography

• Persian Musicians Volume 1 (Moosighidanane Irani, Jelde 1). Navid Publications, Shiraz/Tehran, 2000.
• Persian Musicians Volume 2 (Moosighidanane Irani, Jelde 2). Roshanak Publications, Tehran, 2002, ISBN 964-93867-3-4
• Persian Musicians Volume 3 (Moosighidanane Irani, Jelde 3). Iran Heritage Society (US) / Roshanak Publications, Tehran, 2008, ISBN 964-93867-3-4

External links

• Pejman Akbarzadeh Official Website
• First Persian Piano Recital in Amsterdam by Pejman Akbarzadeh
• Profile in Artists Without Frontiers
• Weekly Book interview with Pejman Akbarzadeh
• Persian Gulf Online website
• Pejman Akbarzadeh articles in Payvand News
• Pejman Akbarzadeh's music articles in Persian