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Sahba Aminikia, pianist and innovative Iranian composer resides in San Francisco.
He is one of young Iranian artists whose works get performed by world-renowned ensembles,
and has achieved a lot in his career.
Last week, "Deltangi-ha" his most recent work was premiered by the Delphi Trio in San Francisco.
We arranged an interview with him so we'll get more familiar with "Deltangi-ha" and the concept behind it.
Last week, "Deltangi-ha" composed by Sahba Aminikia, young pianist and composer based in San Francisco, Northern California,
was world-premiered by the Delphi Trio.
This piece, strongly influenced by his childhood memories and his life circumstance during the war and his present life,
was commissioned for this ensemble exclusively.
I started to organize my thoughts in order see what elements of my generation lives during the 80's when I born, can be so memorable,
that even if they're not printed on our minds as pleasant memories,
when we think of them, they still keep us dedicated to and in love with our homeland.
I think this can be named as one of the features of nostalgy in general. It's something you miss it all the time no matter what.
Sahba Aminikia is born in 1981 and has studied composition and piano with numerous teachers whom of all them he mentions Mehran Rouhani as the most influential one.
Then he spent some time in Saint Petersburg, Russia, studying composition,
and approximately 6 years ago, after immigrating to the United Stated, he started to continue his education at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Currently he is preparing to get enrolled in a Doctorate program.
So far, he has written more than 40 pieces for amateur and professional ensembles, such as Kronos Quartet which they all have been premiered.
"Deltangi-ha" consists of five contrasting sections.
First movement of the piece is called "Tehran; First Encounter".
What I had in mind was the moment when one is looking at Tehran for the first time from a height and sees it as
a polluted and intense city and how the city would reflect itself in his mind.
The second movement is called "Childhood Under Missiles" is about my childhood while the eight-year Iran-Iraq was in progress.
And this was the time period that my generation grew up at.
The third movement is named "First Love Under the Snow"
which is portraying the first time I fell in love.
The fourth "Nawruz" is a rendition of new year's fanfare which gets played by Sorna and Dohol at the new year's countdown
which is a festive moment for all Iranian people no matter what part of Iran they are from.
The fifth movement is "For Those Who Flew Away"
and is about the people who are not amongst us anymore.
But their memories are printed in our minds.
Delphi Trio was formed three years ago by three alumnus of San Francisco Conservatory of Music
and they have toured many U.S. cities as well as Europe and Canada.
"Deltangi-ha" which is going to be performed for the first time,
is going to be included in their upcoming season.
Jeff LaDeur, pianist and the member of the trio says:
This piece is very special both musically and personally.
Sahba has used his childhood memories in order to write this piece.
Deep memories which are dramatic, fragile and intense at the same time,
and have impacted his feelings deeply.
We're honored to work on such a beautifully-composed piece.
I think it is going to be a very effective and interesting piece for our audience.
Aminikia has also tried to push the boundaries of his musical language in this piece.
I tried to pay more attention to the colors and textures,
and the impression they have on the listeners.
If my previous work can be compared to realistic paintings, this piece of mine resembles an impressionistic one.
which emphasized on the impression that listeners perceives from the facts surrounding the story behind the piece.
Incorporating Iranian melodies has created a peculiar atmosphere in his pieces.
I think that any composer and musician has a musical memory bank in his head.
That musical bank consists of various melodies from various genres.
These melodies can be pop, jazz, classical music or Iranian music.
In our culture they can be Taazieh or the call of prayer.
We won't be able to restrict ourselves to a specific genre or type of music, no matter how much we try to do so.
Because by just living in human societies we get exposed to various types of music.
Nationality does not have much effect on the fact that we all share same feelings and we come from the same source.
When I talk about war for anyone from any place in the world, they can communicated with what I try to express.
Arash Rod - Voice of America San Francisco