ANONYMOUS #1
1. How do you evaluate your career as an Iranian female composer/singer in Iran?
As a female composer, I must work harder to establish my artistic work. As a composer in general, in the Islamic Republic of Iran, I can’t freely choose what kind of music I want to compose. For example, if the music I make is about a political issue or women’s rights, there is a possibility that I will be arrested for it, or if I write music for a female singer or dancer, it can’t be performed legally.
2. Has the Woman-life-freedom revolution impacted your life and work? If so, can you elaborate on how this has impacted you?
These days, because of all the murders and arrests that are being done by the government, I can’t concentrate enough to compose. I think these days, most of us are trying and hoping for the “women, life, freedom” to prevail. But generally, I feel more determined to continue composing with the subject of women’s rights and gender equality.
ANONYMOUS #2
1. How do you evaluate your career as an Iranian female composer/singer in Iran?
As a composer, there are not many job opportunities for me in my country. Unfortunately, in Iran, there is no support for artists since art is only considered a tool, it is abused, and no specific budget is allocated for it. As an artist in Iran who has spent most of my life on music, my intellectual capabilities and knowledge are not considered assets to the country to be supported. Iran’s patriarchal government doesn’t comprehend the necessity of the arts, nor does it perceive art and the value of artists. They only look for those who create works following the government’s despicable goals and who can accept their censorship. In such a society, serious artistic activity is very bothersome for men, let alone for women!
2. Has the Woman-life-freedom revolution impacted your life and work? If so, can you elaborate on how this has impacted you?
Although I am carrying on with my work and so-called life, at this moment, work is my last concern. Every day, when I face horrible news from different parts of my country, I try to find a way to do something positive for this revolution and learn from the courageous people of my country. Iran is a big multicultural land with various languages. The Islamic government has tried to divide my nation and destroy the unity of Iranians for years. All these and many other reasons that cannot be embedded in my simple words stopped us from knowing each other and the great cultures of Iran profoundly. Over these two months, I have learned more about my country. Despite all the hardships, I am deeply hopeful because this movement is considerably different from the previous ones that started since the Islamic revolution in Iran. It is as if the shell of the patriarchal society, which had thinned over the years, is now completely broken. Society is shedding its old skin, and a new body is coming out. Women, as half of the society that have been kept passive for years, are now standing in the front line of combat! I suppose this brave image of women surprised the world.
3. If you want to share anything else and you think it is important and significant, we will amplify it.
When I was a child, I wanted to be a singer and dancer. I used to sing every day and spent hours and hours practicing different kinds of dances by watching videos that were smuggled into the country! As I grew up, I soon understood that I could not pursue dancing and singing as my career, because I had to choose my profession from the legal choices for women in Iran! Although I am now happy being a composer, somewhere in my heart, I miss my dreams. Being banned from something that you really have passion for is the worst thing that can happen to someone’s life. However, my story is not that tragic. After Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1979, all female singers, dancers, and actors were prohibited from working. Their properties were seized, some of them were jailed, some ended up dying, some forcefully pretended to repent, and some were forced to emigrate from their homeland. Just imagine you are a superstar in your country, then you become a criminal overnight! Iranian women have been in a silent battle since then and toiled to retake their rights little by little. The image that you see of Iranian women today is something that has been achieved with enormous difficulty; however, it is still very far from what they really wish to be.
Shaghayegh Bagheri, singer
1. How do you evaluate your career as an Iranian female composer/singer in Iran?
As a female singer, working in Iran is undoubtedly one of the most difficult jobs. In addition to the prohibition of women’s voices in Iran, the restrictions on the presence of female singers on stage, the lack of suitable private halls for female singers to perform, and the existence of strict laws in case of performing abroad, there are many problems that stand in the way of Iranian female singers.
However, despite all these limitations and discriminations, I believe we need to stand and advocate for our rights and continue our activities and fights; we shouldn’t lose our hopes and wishes, and we need to keep going to gain our goals! If we stand up for ourselves, no one can make us remain silent.
2. Has the Woman-life-freedom revolution impacted your life and work? If so, can you elaborate on how this has impacted you?
The impact of recent events on the activities, thinking, and even the type of creation of artists’ works cannot be hidden. Mentally, it is complicated! There are two aspects: on the one hand, it gives me courage in my daily work and life; on the other hand, the brutal killing and torturing these days has impacted my creativity and stopped me from implementing my ideas. Fighting this duality is really a complicated task these days. On the other hand, in this tense situation with strikes, or even mental problems, concerts don’t take place. Some female singers are involved in recording projects of revolutionary songs, which may be the only positive thing that can be done in this situation. These days, everyone is busy making a revolution, which for any artist will be the ultimate artistic work in their entire life.
3. If you want to share anything else and you think it is important and significant, we will amplify it.
These days, there is nothing other than “woman, life, freedom.” These three words speak for everything. Words form us, we become brave, and we give courage. Words and notes can give us life, and we can give life to others with them.
In my opinion, “motivation” and “inspiration” are the most important things one needs in moments of crisis. Even if we are so afraid to go on the streets, we can give motivation and hope to the fighters from behind the trenches.
Anonymous #3
When I was offered to write about the challenges of Iranian female composers in Iran and how to evaluate my career, I thought that I was undoubtedly one of those Iranian women who has fought with her family and society since childhood to become a composer. The cultural and political constraints created roadblocks and bottlenecks for my musical work, which, surprisingly, led —as a defense mechanism— to my discovery of some emerging musical languages and applied inter-cultural experimentation. As a female composer who is living in Tehran, seeing and hearing the protests, I am left with a heavy heart. These days I am mourning the loss of many youths. I have experienced war, revolution and migration. All my life, I have been in severe political and social storms, and I have felt guilty and disabled for my unsafe land and the lack of peace for my fellow Iranians. During these two months that Tehran was under a revolution, I was in isolation. It was a time when the darkness and external difficulties led me to the creation of light inside me and I had to hang out with my musical creatures to get rid of my anxiety. These days I am improvising for long hours. At night I break this introversion and burst into shouting from my window and repeat the slogans. Immediately after the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, all musical programs were interrupted and famous musicians and singers emigrated abroad. Such problems for Iranian women in the field of music have unfortunately caused many of them to emigrate or become isolated. For example, we can mention Golnoosh Khaleghi, Sosan Shakrin, Mahin Zarinpanjeh and many other educated composers who specialized in film music or symphonic music and chose to emigrate in recent decades, hoping to get closer to more favorable conditions. One of the recent examples was the case of Ms. Nazhat Amiri, an orchestra conductor, composer, piano and string player, and music teacher who faced so many obstacles that she was discouraged from continuing to work with the National Orchestra of Iran. Another example was the case of Nazanin Aghakhani, who studied in Europe and conducted many professional orchestras, but when she came to Tehran in 2009, she was not allowed to have a public performance and her trip was ultimately unsuccessful.
Iranian female composers, most importantly, are dealing with the root and sociological problem of patriarchy. In other words, the face of composing in Iran has always been masculine. In a prominent composition project, as a woman, you will be removed mysteriously. This has made our women stand out much more in music performance, but retreat in music composition. Today there are more openings of hope in the space of creating and performing music, compared to the darkness and dead ends of the past decades, and there are better platforms for the presence of women in the society, the efforts of women who fought these days are admirable. The Woman-life-freedom revolution had an impact on my life and work that gave me more self-confidence, more courage, and more determination.
The Iranian Female Composers Association (IFCA) was established in 2017 as a platform to support and promote the work of female-identifying and non-binary composers in Iran and the diaspora through concerts, public performances, installations, interdisciplinary collaborations, and workshops. IFCA is designed to enrich our community and create a welcoming space for Iranian female and non-binary composers around the globe and present a cultural dialogue that is more necessary now than ever.
