Jalil Shahnaz Bust

Biography

Jalili Shahnaz was born in 1921 in Isfahan, Persia (Iran). Shahnaz studied under the supervision of his brother, Hossein Shahnaz, and befriended ney player Hassan Kassai.

According to the book Persian Musicians by Pejman Akbarzadeh: “Shahnaz started his activities in 1949 at Radio Isfahan and in 1957 he was invited to cooperate with Radio Tehran. In the capital he worked as a soloist at Golha program and also later he was quite active at Persian music programs of Shiraz/Persepolis Arts Festival. Shahnaz in the late 1980s became a member of “Persian Music Maestros Ensemble”. The ensemble performed various concerts inside and outside of Persia.”

Persian classical vocalist Shajarian named his most recent musical group “Shahnaz” in honor of Mastero Shahnaz.

Shahnaz died in Tehran on 17 June 2013.

Works

• “Atr Afshan” (tar solo, accompanied by Mohammad Esmaeili, tombak).
• “Zaban-e tar” (tar solo, accompanied by Jahangir Malek, tombak).
• “15 Pieces for Tar & Setar” (transcribed by Houshang Zarif). Soroud Publications, Tehran, 2000.