Reza Vali was born in Iran and studied at the Tehran Conservatory. In 1972, he attended the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, where he studied composition. He later attended the University of Pittsburgh where he received his PhD in composition and theory. He is currently on faculty at Carnegie Mellon University.
Reza Vali was born in Ghazvin, Persia (Iran) in 1952. He began his music studies at the Conservatory of Music in Tehran. In 1972 he went to Austria and studied music education and composition at the Academy of Music in Vienna. After graduating from the Academy of Music, he moved to the United States and continued his studies at the University of Pittsburgh, receiving his Ph.D. in music theory and composition in 1985. Mr. Vali has been a faculty member of the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon University since 1988.
For all the hype about eld"celebrationsrd" of cultures and cld"dialogueJrd" between this and that, those of us who spend our lives commuting between cultures know that works that are grounded in real knowledge of different artistic traditions are still quite rare. In music, what is generically called tld"world music,ord" while certainly not wanting in raw talent and freestyle thrill, lacks the formal cohesiveness that one associates with classical traditions. It is the exploration of the wide open area afforded by the rigor and nuance of the highly developed musical traditions of Iran and the west that Reza Vali undertakes. The result is not only novel but a delight.
Nayshaboorak is a joint commission from the Del Sol Quartet and Cuarteteo Latinoamericano. It was performed by the Del Sol String Quartet in four venues in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nov. 5-10, 2006, as part of the ensembletrs"s cld"Premiers without Bordersdrd" series. (On April 21, 2007, Quarteto Latinoamericano will perform four of Reza Valiors"s string quartets, including the European premiere of Nayshaboorak, in Amsterdam.)
