VIOLA FROM IRAN: CONTINUING AND EXPANDING THE TRAJECTORY OF A RICH CULTURAL HISTORY

Abstract

The Middle Eastern country of Iran has been home to thousands of years of art, poetry, and music. The history of classical music of Iran can be traced back to 3000 BCE. This rich history has inspired the composition of a vast variety of music in different genres and styles. While there has been some scholarly research on the topic of Iranian classical music, the contemporary music of Iran largely remains an unknown territory to Western audiences. In the current social and political climate in the United States, there is an urgent need to open a new window into Iran through the arts. Most news in the U.S. regarding Iran appears to create a negative image, portraying it as a country that lacks culture, stability, and the desire for peace. Additionally, there is a gap in knowledge about Iran specifically when discussing the arts. This gap exists not only in an academic setting through scholarly work, but also with regard to performing and displaying works by Iranian artists. This dissertation introduces works composed for viola by Iranian contemporary composers and aims to display a wide range of styles and approaches in contemporary Iranian music. These works include commissions, U.S. premieres and world premieres; some were performed on a recital and some were included in a recording project. Each chapter of this document highlights one composer and their represented work in this project. The recital and the recording project can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).