Persian classical music is based on improvisation and composition, and it is interwoven with Persian poetry. The repertoire of this music, known as the radif, consists of several hundred short melodic movements called gusheh. Each gusheh has a unique character, feeling, and history to it, which has been passed on orally from generation to generation. In A Musical Journey through Iran, four masterful musicians – Taghi Amjadi on vocals, Amir Nojan on setar, Sina Dehghani on tonbak, and Samandar Dehghani on daf – aim to use the universal language of music to communicate and share the feelings of these melodies with the Freight audience.

Taghi Amjadi grew up in Iran, where he studied with master musician Esmail Mehrtaash, and continued his studies in the Bay Area with Mahmoud Zofonoun and visiting artists Mohammad R. Lotfi and Mohammad R. Shajarian, all of whom helped him develop a deep understanding of Persian music and mystical poetry.

Amir Nojan was born in Shiraz, Iran in 1980, where he studied setar, a Persian instrument similar to the lute, with Dariush Talaei, Jalal Zolfonoon, and Mohammad Lotfi. In 1998, he founded the Nava Ensemble, and since then he has performed many concerts in Iran, Europe, and America as a composer, soloist, improviser, and ensemble player. In 2012, he founded the Shiraz Arts Academy for the teaching of Persian music and arts.

Sina Dehghani was born in 1976 in Tehran. At 14, he began playing two ancient Persian percussion instruments, tombak and daf, and studied with Bahram Dehghani, Majid Hesabi, and Navid Afghah. He currently lives in Sacramento, and teaches and performs throughout America.

Samandar Dehghani was born in Isfahan, Iran in 1986. He has been playing daf since he was 15, under the mentorship of his brother, Sina. He has also studied the tar, a fretted stringed instrument, in Isfahan and Tehran, under the direction of Behrouz Hemati. He now resides in California and performs around the country.