Lily Afshar to Hold Concert, Master Classes in Summer

The celebrated US-based Iranian musician Lily Afshar will come to Iran in summer to hold two master classes and a solo concert.

Her two-day master class in Tehran will be organized by Azarang Music Institute on June 22-23 at the institute premises in Seyed Khandan neighborhood.

She will then go to Tabriz, capital of East Azarbaijan Province in northeastern Iran, where she will teach at a master class and attend a seminar at the Mahoor Institute on July 13.

On her return to Tehran, Afshar will perform a classical guitar recital at Niavaran Cultural Center in northern part of the capital on July 21, Iranconcert.com reported.

The Iranian guitarist has a busy schedule ahead with more workshops and concerts planned in the upcoming months in Canada and the US as well.

One of the world’s leading classical guitar players, Afshar, 57, is a master of traditional Iranian music. She is the first woman in the world to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Music in guitar performance.

Born in Tehran, Afshar earned her bachelor’s degree in music at the Boston Conservatory, received her master’s from the New England Conservatory and later got her doctorate at Florida State University.

Afshar has performed her arrangements of Persian and Azeri pieces by guitar as well as setar, a traditional Persian instrument which evolved over many centuries into the guitar.

In 2000, she won the Orville H. Gibson Award in Los Angeles for Best Female Classical Guitarist.

Her notable awards include a top prize in the Guitar Foundation of America Competition and Grand Prize in the Aspen Music Festival Guitar Competition, among others.

She is a three-time winner of the annual ‘Premier Guitarist’ awards given by the Memphis Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and was chosen as an ‘Artistic Ambassador’ to Africa for the United States Information Agency.

Afshar has performed at solo and orchestral concerts in the US, Canada, England, Ireland, France, Italy, Jordan, Australia, New Zealand, her home country Iran, as well as in South America and Africa.

She regularly conducts classes and workshops in conjunction with her concert tours in Iran. Those who appreciate classical guitar can enjoy the music of Lily Afshar on seven CD recordings which have attracted international critical acclaim.