Amir Hosein Pourjavady earned his Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the CUNY Graduate Center, where he studied with Stephen Blum and received his BA in music from the University of Tehran. He served as Assistant Professor of music at the University of Tehran for nine years (2005-2014) and has written extensively on the history, theory and performance practice of Persian music.
Pourjavady studied the setar, vocal music, and the radif with Dariush Safvat, Hossein Alizadeh, Dariush Talai and Hatam Asgari for more than ten years. He has recorded the album “Six Songs from the Qajar Period” and has performed with many of the most influential musicians in Iran, Europe, and the United States.
He served as editor of the Mahoor Music Quarterly and the Grand Encyclopedia of Islam for several years. His publications include a book, several editions of musical treatises, as well as liner notes and encyclopedia articles.
Pourjavady is currently the director of Iranian music program at UCLA where he also directs the Persian ensemble.
Music of Persian-speaking world, Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia; history of music in Islamic lands, Iran, Turkey, Arab world, Mughal India; classical Persian music, performance theory, radif, modal system, rhythm, improvisation, song-text collections.
Ph.D. Ethnomusicology, CUNY Graduate Center; Ph.D. Near Eastern Languages and Culture, UCLA; MA Ethnomusicology, CUNY Graduate Center; BA Music, University of Tehran.
