Amir Nojan & Pejman Hadadi: Persian Classical Music – “Whispers of the Dastgah” (RBA)
About This Event
Setar player Amir Nojan and tonbak player Pejman Hadadi perform "Whispers of the Dastgah" at Roulette. Nojan, schooled in the radif with Dariush Talai, Jalal Zolfonoon and Mohammad Reza Lotfi, foregrounds modal logic and fine ornament; Hadadi, Tehran‑born and U.S.‑based since 1990, supplies precise, conversational rhythmic support. The program frames improvisation within the dastgah system, favoring structural clarity and close interplay.
About Whispers of the Dastgah
At Roulette, Amir Nojan and Tehran-born tonbak player Pejman Hadadi present *Whispers of the Dastgah*, a set rooted in the modal architecture of Persian classical music. The program centers on how melody moves through dastgah frameworks while percussion shapes time, tension, and release. Hadadi, who has lived in the United States since 1990, brings a diasporic continuity to a tradition often transmitted through apprenticeship rather than notation. One clear takeaway is how the duo treats rhythm as structure, not accompaniment, letting form emerge in real time.
About the Artists
Amir Nojan & Pejman Hadadi
Amir Nojan and Pejman Hadadi work in the Persian classical tradition, centering on the dastgah system and its modal pathways. Hadadi, a Tehran-born tonbak player, relocated to the United States in 1990 and is known for precise, conversational rhythm.
Amir Nojan
Amir Nojan is a Persian traditional setar player shaped by years of study with major figures in the radif tradition, including Dariush Talai, Jalal Zolfonoon, and Mohammad Reza Lotfi. His work centers on the modal logic of dastgah and the fine gradations of ornament and phrasing that carry it.
Pejman Hadadi
Pejman Hadadi is an Iranian tonbak player rooted in the traditions of Persian classical music. Raised in Tehran and based in the United States since 1990, he has built a career centered on the instrument’s nuanced timing and tonal shading.