Anousha Nazari (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: آنوشا نظری) is an Iranian

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

classical singer born on January 6 in

Sari A sari (also called sharee, saree or sadi)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is a drape (cloth) and a women's garment in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of an un-sti ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Biography

Nazari began singing in local orchestras before joining the Sonata Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir Ensemble. She began her musical training at the conservatory while studying

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

at the university, from which she graduated in 2012. She won the International Prize at the

Fajr International Music Festival Fajr International Music Festival () is Iran's most prestigious Music Festival founded in 1986. The festival is affiliated with UNESCO and includes national and international competition sections. Since its establishment, many musicians from seve ...

(choir section) in 2013 and 2014, and participated in national and international festivals. In 2014, she was selected by the

Tehran Symphony Orchestra The Tehran Symphony Orchestra (TSO, ), founded in 1933, is Iran's oldest and largest symphony orchestra. It was founded as the Municipality Symphony Orchestra by Gholamhossein Minbashian, before entering its modern form under Parviz Mahmoud in 194 ...

, then under the direction of

Alexander Rahbari Ali (Alexander) Rahbari (; also as "Alī Rahbarī", ; born 1948) is an Iranian composer and conductor who has worked with more than 120 European orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic and the Mariinsky Opera.

. Based in France since 2016, she joined the lyrical singing section of the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Cergy-Pontoise, where she completed her education in music and singing. After performing in concert halls across Iran ( Salle Vahdat,

Arasbaran Arasbaran (), also known as Qaradagh (; , ; ), is a large mountainous area stretching from the Qūshā Dāgh massif, south of Ahar, to the Aras River in East Azerbaijan province of Iran. The region is confined to Aras Riv ...

, Milad &...), she continues her career on Parisian and European stages (

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...

Salle Cortot Salle is the French word for 'hall', 'room' or 'auditorium', as in: *Salle des Concerts Herz, a former Paris concert hall *Salle Favart, theatre of the Paris Opéra-Comique *Salle Le Peletier, former home of the Paris Opéra *Salle Pleyel, a Paris ...

École des Beaux-Arts de Paris The (), formally the (), is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level fine arts education and training. The art school, which is part of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is located on two sites: Saint-G ...

, Musée national des arts asiatiques Guimet,

Hôtel de Lauzun The Hôtel de Lauzun () is a 17th-century ''hôtel particulier'', or private mansion, located on the of the île Saint-Louis in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is among the few Parisian '' hôtels'' that retain their rich carved, pa ...

Musée français de la carte à jouer The Musée Français de la Carte à Jouer () is a museum of playing cards in Paris, France. It is located at 16, rue Auguste Gervais, in the suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. Nearby is Mairie d'Issy station, the southern terminus of Paris Métro Li ...

, Amphithéâtre Richelieu de la Sorbonne,

Institut du monde arabe The Institut du Monde Arabe (, ''Arab World Institute''; abbr. IMA) is an organisation founded in Paris in 1980 by France with 18 Arab countries to research and disseminate information about the Arab world and its cultural and spiritual values. ...

Cité internationale universitaire de Paris Cité internationale universitaire de Paris () or the Cité universitaire (CIUP or ''Cité U'') is a university campus, a private park and foundation located in Paris, France. Since 1925, it has provided general and public services, including ...

), Philharmonie am Gasteig à

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Hermann-Levi-Saal in

Gießen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the German state () of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students. Th ...

, Rathaus Laubach Friedrichstraße in

Laubach Laubach () is a town of approximately 10,000 people in the Gießen (region), Gießen region of Hesse, Germany. Laubach is known as a ', a climatic health resort. It is situated east of Gießen. Surrounding Laubach are the towns of Hungen, Grünbe ...

where she collaborates with various

artists An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

and

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

s such as

Jean-Claude Carrière Jean-Claude Carrière (; 17 September 1931 – 8 February 2021) was a French novelist, screenwriter and actor. He received an Academy Award for best short film for co-writing '' Heureux Anniversaire'' (1963), and was later conferred an Honorar ...

Nahal Tajadod Nahal Tajadod is an Iranian writer and scholar living in Paris. She was married to Jean-Claude Carrière Jean-Claude Carrière (; 17 September 1931 – 8 February 2021) was a French novelist, screenwriter and actor. He received an Academy Aw ...

, Leili Anvar,

Julie Gayet Julie Gayet (; born 3 June 1972) is a French actress and film producer.< ...

Sonia Wieder-Atherton Sonia Wieder-Atherton (born 1961) is a Franco-American classical cellist. Life Born in San Francisco of a Romanian mother and an American father of Jewish origin, she grew up in New York and then in Paris where she entered the Conservatoire de ...

, Shani Diluka. For example, she performs the ''

Danse Macabre The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory from the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning represen ...

'' and ''Persian Melodies: Op.'' ''26 : La Brise'' by

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

in the version for voice and piano. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the creation of the editorial staff and the International Day of Nowrouz, at the request of the RFI, she presented ''Fire Temple''. His debut album ''Sounds of Ancestors'' was produced and released in March 2021 by the Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies & Culture at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

.. In this music

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, she has performed pieces by Iranian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

s such as

André Hossein André Aminollah Hossein, born Aminulla Huseynov, also known as Aminollah Hossein (; 1905, in Samarkand – 9 August 1983, in Paris) was a French composer of Iranian Azerbaijani origin and a tar soloist. Life and education His son, Robert Hosse ...

Morteza Hannaneh Morteza Hannaneh (; 1 March 1923 – 17 October 1989) was an Iranian composer and musician. He composed for some movies, such as '' Fleeing the Trap'' in 1971. Musical career Hannaneh studied Horn at the Tehran Conservatory and basic compositio ...

, Samin Baghtcheban & M. S. Sharifian. In April 2021, she participated with 20 artists from around the world in the musical project ''20 Chansons et Berceuses du monde'' produced and published by Joyvox Éditions and

Sony music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

. Anousha Nazari's second

, titled ''In Vino Veritas.'' ''Hommage à Khayam'', was produced and published in 2024 by Gondishapour in partnership with the

Société Nationale des Beaux Arts Groupe Lactalis S.A. (doing business as Lactalis) is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier S.A. Lactalis is the largest dairy pr ...

. This

, composed for lyrical vocals,

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, brings together compositions by four Iranian

s—Rouzbeh Rafie, Aso Kohzadi, Basir Faghih Nasiri, and Mehdi Panahi—of the new generation in homage to

Omar Khayyam Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīshābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131) (Persian language, Persian: غیاث الدین ابوالفتح عمر بن ابراهیم خیام نیشابورﻯ), commonly known as Omar ...

, the 11th century poet. The

explores themes such as

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

and the quest for the present moment, which are central to

Khayyam Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīshābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131) ( Persian: غیاث الدین ابوالفتح عمر بن ابراهیم خیام نیشابورﻯ), commonly known as Omar Khayyam (), was ...

's work. She is the co-founder of the French

Association Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

Gondishapour. On March 26, 2022, Anousha Nazari and Sepand Dadbeh, bring to life a legendary Persian love story during a musical performance in the National Museum of Asian Arts - Guimet in Paris. This lyrical creation, dedicated to the Persian loves of Princess

Shirin Shirin (; died 628) was wife of the Sasanian emperor Khosrow II (). In the revolution after the death of Khosrow's father Hormizd IV, the General Bahram Chobin took power over the Persian empire. Shirin fled with Khosrow to Syria, where they l ...

and King Khosrow, is inspired by the poems of Nizami, dating from the 12th century. In November 2022, Anousha Nazari released a music video for the piece '' L'Eraclito amoroso'' by

Barbara Strozzi Barbara Strozzi (also called Barbara Valle; baptised 6 August 1619 – 11 November 1677) was an Italian composer and singer of the Baroque Period. During her lifetime, Strozzi published eight volumes of her own music, and had more secular ...

. On March 8, 2023, on the occasion of International Women's Rights Day, in solidarity with

Iranian women Throughout history, women in Iran have played numerous roles, and contributed in many ways, to Iranian society. Historically, tradition maintained that women be confined to their homes to manage the household and raise children. During the P ...

, Anousha Nazari presents ''You're the One I Desire'' at the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Anousha Nazari, in collaboration with

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Shani Diluka and

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, as well as actress

Julie Gayet Julie Gayet (; born 3 June 1972) is a French actress and film producer.< ...

, participated in an artistic project ''Mèches de feu'' . This project took place on May 22, 2023 at the Cité de la Musique-Philharmonie de Paris . It consisted of a concert accompanied by a reading of poems, organized in five acts. The performances combined

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

with the poetry of Garous Abdolmalekian. Anousha Nazari was a jury member for several institutions, including the 160th edition of the

Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA; ; ) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions. 1862 Established in 1862 by the painter a ...

and the Global Encounters Festival of the

Aga Khan Development Network The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a network of private, non-denominational development agencies founded by the Aga Khan, with the primary focus of improving the quality of life in different regions of Asia and Africa. The network focuse ...

.https://www.salondesbeauxarts.com/prix-recompenses-snba/

Discography

* 2021 : ''Sounds of Ancestors'' * 2021 : ''20 Chansons et Berceuses du monde'' * 2024 : ''In Vino Veritas.'' ''Hommage à Khayam''

Videography

* 2022 : ''Fire Temple (Khosrow & Shirin)'' * 2022 : ''Torrents d'amour'' * 2022 : ''L'Eraclito amoroso'' * 2023 : ''You're the One I Desire'' * 2023 : ''Krunk'' * 2023 : ''Omaggio a Saadi'' * 2023 : ''Mèches de feu'' * 2023 : ''Freedom'' * 2023 : ''The Candle of dawn'' * 2023 : ''Bé Sahra'' * 2024 : ''Flow My Tears'' * 2024 : ''Mélodies Persanes Op. 26: La brise'' * 2025 : Lascia ch’io pianga * 2025 : Tâ Bé Kéy Âzâr * 2025 : In Darkness Let Me Dwell

Singles

* 2022 : ''Fire Temple (Khosrow & Shirin)'' * 2022 : ''L'Eraclito amoroso'' * 2023 : ''Woman, Life, Freedom'' * 2023 : ''Chera'' * 2023 : ''Freedom'' * 2023 : ''Bé Sahra'' * 2024 : ''Flow My Tears'' * 2024 : ''Mélodies Persanes Op. 26: La brise'' * 2025 : Lascia ch’io pianga * 2025 : Tâ Bé Kéy Âzâr

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazari, Anousha Mezzo-sopranos Persian-language singers of Iran Iranian classical musicians Iranian sopranos Baroque musicians 21st-century Iranian women 21st-century Iranian women artists 21st-century Iranian women singers Iranian expatriates in France Contemporary classical music performers 1990 births Living people 21st-century Iranian women musicians Women in classical music 21st-century women opera singers 21st-century French women opera singers 21st-century women singers 21st-century French women singers Iranian mezzo-sopranos Iranian classical singers