Ali Akbar Moradi, Pejman Hedadi, Kourosh Moradi, and Arash Moradi performed at Stanford University on May 5, 2018. Concert sponsored by the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies and part of the Stanford Festival of Iranian Arts, co-sponsored by the Persian Student Association.
Concert by master Iranian musician Ali Akbar Moradi, joined by his two sons Kourosh and Arash Moradi. Ali Akbar plays the tanbour (Persian lute), considered the oldest string instrument of Iran. The performance is in two parts: the first part is based on Majlessi maqams, accompanying the Persian poetry of Abul-Qasim Ferdowsi Tusi and the Kurdish poet Hayran-Ali Shah. The second part is based on the Majazi maqams, using a variation of techniques and multiple arrangements. The concert itself contains a wide range of musical and technical variations, representing the rich musical and cultural heritage of Iran.
Ali Akbar Moradi began playing the tanbour at the age of seven and learned not only the music but the Kurdish maqam repertoire. He has won awards, recorded several albums, and performed in Europe, the United States, and Canada with singers like Shahram Nazeri and at the Royal Festival Hall in London. In addition to teaching the tanbour in Tehran and his hometown of Kermanshah, Ali Akbar is a dedicated scholar of the tanbour and continues to develop the legacy of the instrument and the regional Kurdish music.