Category: Houman Pourmehdi

Hooman Pourmehdi was born in 1965. During his childhood, he was introduced to traditional Iranian music by his father, Parviz Pourmehdi, who was a colleague of Master Amir Naser Eftetah. The sound of the tonbak and the melody of his father’s tar guided him to a new world, and at the age of 16, he reached Master Amir Naser Eftetah and understood his school of thought. Then, at the Center for the Preservation and Propagation of Iranian Music, under the supervision of Master Morteza Ayan, he continued the modern tonbak playing style, which was rooted in the tradition of Master Eftetah, and began teaching tonbak under his supervision at the Center for Preservation and Propagation. He received daf playing from Seyed Ali Ashraf Sadeghi, and during his many travels with him, he absorbed the presence, manners, and states of Mirza Agha Ghouthi and Darvish Karim. Pourmehdi immigrated to the United States in 1988 to continue his education and settled in Chicago, which led to his acquaintance with Dr. Mehdi Forough. For four years, Pourmehdi studied the integration of poetry and music with Master Forough, which initiated a new and profound approach to composing for him. During Master Morteza Ayan’s trip to the United States, he became acquainted with Master Mohammad Reza Lotfi in 1990, which marked a new chapter in his artistic life. During this time, Pourmehdi also began playing the ney with Master Mohammad Ali Kiani Nejad. Upon Mr. Lotfi’s recommendation, he began the first tour to commemorate Master Morteza Khan Ney Davood in the United States, which coincided with the death of Master Ney Davood. The album “The Art of Improvisation in Chahargah” is also a product of that era. His marriage to Pirayeh Pourafr in 1994, who is a student of Master Ali Akbar Shahnazi, opened a new perspective on modern Iranian music, which led to the establishment of the Lian group in 1996 and collaboration with great musicians of the world, including Swapan Chaudhuri, Khaled Jubran, Djivan Gasparyan, Miroslav Tadic, Wadada Leo Smith, Theodore Bikel, Swiji Wasan, Chürgchüül Chöö, and Ordosakhna, initiating an endless journey into the music of nations. He has performed numerous concerts around the world with masters such as Hassan Nahid, Sima Bina, Dariush Talaei, Mahmoud Zulfonoun, and Parisa. Since 2005, Pourmehdi has been officially a professor at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in the field of music and Iranian percussion instruments and the percussion instruments orchestra of nations.