Mohsen Namjoo
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Mohsen Namjoo: Maryam
Mohsen Namjoo, is an Iranian singer-songwriter, author, musician, and setar player. He was born in 1976 in Torbat-e Jam, a small town in northeastern Iran.
He began his musical training at the age of 12, studying under Nasrollah Nasehpoor until the age of 18. In 1994 he was offered admission to study Theater and Music at University of Tehran. Since the music program at the university wouldn't start for another year he first joined the theater course. At Tehran University he was a student of Alireza Mashayekhi, Azin Movahed and other masters. Namjoo has also studied Iranian folk music under Haj Ghorbane Soleimani.
He is also familiar with Western musical styles, particularly blues and rock. Since 2003 he has started recording parts of his own works in Tehran. His debut album titled Toranj was officially released in Iran in September 2007 with his own voice appearing in most of his compositions. He has also composed soundtracks for movies and plays, and was featured in the documentary Sounds of Silence (directed by Amir Hamz and Mark Lazarz) which has been screened at international film festivals. He also appeared in a feature narrative film called Few Kilograms of Dates for the Funeral (Director Saman Salur), played in various film festivals. Namjoo's first performance outside Iran was in January 2006 at the Tehran Hotspot of the International Rotterdam Film Festival where he played solo.
He also writes poetry, and sometimes uses his own satirical lyrics in his songs blended with the classical poetry of Hafez, Rumi or Saadi. His music and words are very emotional and, in his works, he creates a fusion between various styles from traditional Iranian to blues and rock.
In October 2008, he teamed up with famous exiled Iranian actress and pianist Golshifteh Farahani. Their new album Oy (Akh in Persian) is implicitly critical of the Iranian government and was released in October 2009 during an international tour that started in Italy (Milan and Venice).
