Kourosh Zolani (born 1970) is an

Iranian-American Iranian-Americans, also known as Persian-Americans, are United States citizens or nationals who are of Iranian ancestry, or who hold Iranian citizenship. Most Iranian-Americans arrived in the United States after 1979, as a result of the Irani ...

composer and instrumental soloist. He is known for designing and playing a

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, es ...

santour. His compositions based on using his unique chromatic Santour include ''Memoirs of Sangesar'', ''Dance of Change'' and ''Peaceful Planet''.Other works include: ''It Used to be Home'', ''Concerto for Santour and Orchestra'', ''With us Forever'', ''Shabnam'', ''Dandelions'', ''Didar'', ''My Childhood Dream'', ''Victory'', ''Snow Queen'', ''Dreams Are Real'', ''Butterflies'' and ''Goodbye Homeland''

Personal life

Zolani was the youngest of ten children was raised in a poverty-stricken home in the small village of Sangesar,

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 ...

. From an early age, he had dreamed of being a musician in spite of having to work hard alongside his siblings to make ends meet. Zolani developed a passion for musical expression and learned to play the santour at age 14 and left home as a young adult to pursue his passion at the University of Art in Tehran. He studied classical composition and trained with Master Farāmarz Pāyvar.

Professional background

Zolani is known for the development of a new tuning technique for the santour, which is an ancient Iranian instrument. The traditional Iranian santour is a

diatonic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair ...

instrument, which is relative to playing a piano without the use of the black keys. Zolani enhanced the instrument by creating a

santour, which essentially allows the use of both black and white keys. Over the history of the Persian santour, unsuccessful attempts had been made to create a chromatic santour, but the enhanced instrument remained in experimental phases, never becoming functional. Zolani's change and enhancement of the santour was an historical first in the presentation and playing capabilities of the instrument. The transformation allowed for more chromatic and complex orchestral versatility. Since 1995, Zolani has performed his original compositions in concerts in Washington, D.C., as well as the ancient Roman city of Jerash in Jordan, featuring his new chromatic santour. He participated as a santour player in

David Arkenstone David Arkenstone (born July 1, 1952) is an American composer and performer. His music is primarily instrumental, with occasional vocalizations. Most of Arkenstone's music falls into new age category; however, he also worked in other genres, inclu ...

's ''Atlantis'' album, which received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination for the Best

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

Album of the Year. In November 2009, Zolani released a collection of his original work, entitled ''Memoirs of Sangesar''. In 2004, his album, ''Peaceful Planet'' was awarded the Best Solo Instrumental Album of the Year in the Just Plain Folks Music Organization's International Contest. He has also received The Elaine Weissman Los Angeles Treasures Award from The

City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city ...

and The California Traditional Music Society.

Discography

*2009 ''Memoirs of Sangesar'' *2003 ''Peaceful Planet''

References

Footnotes

* Link to th
English translation
of the article “Conversation with Kourosh Zolani about Chromatic Santour" in Iran Newspaper. Link to the articl

External links

Official website 2007 at archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zolani, Kourosh Living people Iranian santur players Iranian film score composers University of California, Los Angeles alumni American people of Iranian descent 1970 births