Molookpour, Amir

Amir Molookpour

Amir Molookpour began to study traditional Persian music at the age of nine. After a few years he taught himself the traditions of Western art music, and since 1994 has studied with Hassan Riahi, the composer of the most recent Iranian national anthem. Since 1995 he has collaborated with the Iranian Radio and Television Orchestra as a composer and arranger, writing several pieces for symphonic and chamber orchestra, including a Fantasy for Tar and Orchestra, Short Suite for small orchestra, and Tabarestan Symphony, the latter of which was selected as one of the best compositions of 1999.

He was one of the co-founders of the Association of Young Iranians Composers. In 2001 he moved to Italy to study musicology at the University of Pavia (in Cremona) while continuing his work with the orchestra of Iranian Radio and Television. During his time in Italy he researched the role and function of music in the religious rituals of the Zoroastrians of Iran. This later became the subject of his thesis. In addition, for several years he contributed to newspapers and musical magazines in Iran, writing regularly on musicological and socio-cultural issues. At the same time he continued to compose, including Three Lieder on poems of Hermann Hesse (performed during the event "Spazio '900” in 2009), and numerous compositions for solo instruments, such as piano, clarinet, and cello.

Since 2012 he has written several works for wind band, including Marsiye and Nachklänge aus dem Himmel, commissioned and premiered by the Complesso Bandistico Città di Cremona and conducted by maestro Giordano Calvi. In 2014 he wrote The Land of Zarathustra, which was selected as the test piece for the WMC Kerkrade in 2017. His Six Persian Dances, The Land of Zarathustra, and The Ruins of Palmyra have been recorded by The Royal Band of the Belgian Guides.

Here is a list with works of Amir that have been published by Tierolff.