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Reza Ghasemi (born 1949) is an Iranian novelist and musician.

He was born in Mahshahr from Isfahanian descent. Besides his excellence in the field of fiction, for which he is so popular, he has an undeniable talent in classical Iranian music. He is a true master of the Persian Lute the Setar. He has composed some songs for the Iranian Pavarotti master Shahram Nazeri. He has also been on stage with some other leading Iranian vocalists such as master Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Sepideh Raissadat.

His best-known composition is the last track on the best-selling classical Iranian album, Gol-e Sadbarg released in 1984. This album, which includes compositions from Jalal Zolfonoun, Shahram Nazeri as well as Reza Ghassemi, is believed to have the most influential effect on Iranian young artists who were reluctant to learn the Setar.

Since the release of the album Gol-e Sadbarg, Setar found unbelievably great popularity among Iranians. In truth, Ghassemi and his two famous colleagues, mentioned above, began a new era in Iranian classical music. Though he lives in France, Ghassemi has not given up teaching Iranian music. Farrokhzad Layegh has studied Setar with Mr. Ghassemi, among some other masters.

Reza Ghassemi's latest album "14 Cheerful Pieces" with the voice of Iranian vocalist Sepideh Raissadat was released on October 25, 2010, in France (by Buda Musique Records).

Award[link]

• Golshiri award, 2002.
• the writers and critical award, 2002.
• PEKA award, 2002.
• the writers and critical award, 2010.

Albums[link]

• 14 Cheerful Pieces (rel. Oct. 2010)
• Dashti-Mahour (rel. 1992)
• Improvisation in Esfahan - Rast Panjgah
• Siavash Khani (Chahargah)
• Gol-e Sadbarg (rel. 1984)

References[link]

• A critic (in farsi) of his latest album (14 Cheerful Pieces) with Sepideh Raissadat
• A critic on his book
• An interview with Ghassemi in Radio Zamaneh

External links[link]

• Ghassemi's personal website

Biography[link]

Sepideh Raissadat (Persian: سپیده رئیس سادات‎) Born in Tehran, Iran in 1980, Sepideh Raissadat is an Iranian classical singer. Sepideh began studying Radif (the Repertoire of the Persian classical music) at the age of 9 with the famous Persian singer Ms. Parissa, and continued with Mr. Parviz Meshkatian and Mr. Mohammad Reza Lotfi. Her major soloist instrument is the Setar. Her first album was recorded when she was 18, thanks to Ostad Parviz Meshkatian. This was the first time a female vocalist was singing in duet in Iran, after the Revolution of 1979, while they could only sing in choirs. After she finished her B.A. in Painting, she moved to Italy to pursue her artistic education. She graduated in Musicology majoring in Ethnomusicology from the University of Bologna. While in Italy, she was invited by the Vatican and different Italian TV channels and performed as a soloist with one of the oldest Italian choirs. She also performed with the most well known Italian musicians such as Franco Battiato, Andrea Parodi, etc. Over the past few years, she has academically researched the pre-Islamic ancient Persian music. Currently her major research area is focused on Sassanid music.

Albums[link]

• "Tale of Friendship" composed by Iman Vaziri. October 2011.
• "14 Cheerful Pieces" composed by Reza Ghassemi. Published by Buda Records, Oct,25 2010.
• "Anwar - From Samarqand to Costantinople on the Footsteps of Maraghi" published by Felmay, September 1, 2010.
• "Konje Sabouri" composed by the late Ostad Parviz Meshkatian
• "Khonyagar" composed by Mehdi Azarsina

Televised Performances[link]

• BBC Persian channel Close-up (Az Nazdik) program about Sepideh Raissadat

External links[link]

• Sepideh Raissadat's official Website
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Télérama (French art&culture weekly)

References[link]