Notes of Sublime Grace

A 72-year-0ld Iranian musician whose hey-day was realized as a social and musical celebrity in the decades before the Islamic Revolution in 1979 has found a new meaning for his life. In the days when the Shah of Iran sat on the Peacock Throne ruling his country, music was appreciated. That was the period when Ali Jafarian, as a blind musician, composed songs, played concerts and was an intimate of his country's star performers and aristocracy.

With the Iranian Revolution the country's classical music fell under threat. The ruling clerics blessed only religious and martial music. Iran's performers began to drift away, to go abroad where they could practise their craft. Or, like Ali Jafarian, stayed at home and mused on what they had once had and no longer did. Mr. Jafarian is no more idle; he teaches a weekly orchestral class of about thirty women playing the classical instruments of Iran.

Although he is white-haired, physically frail and blind, religious convention does not permit him certain things; although this is 'his' orchestra in a sense, he cannot attend the public concerts of the all-female ensemble, the Fars Women's Chamber Orchestra. The women, for their part, see their weekly practise with their conductor as a meaningful and valuable part of their lives.

"We have something to say in this world of art, no matter how small", explained one of the young violinists. " The instrument is strength. It's power. It's the freedom of my soul. When I play here, I feel proud of all the women here. Only women play. We show that we can stand on our own feet." It is because Mr. Jafarian is elderly and blind that the women are permitted to diverge from custom and assemble in his presence.

"I realized that the only group restricted from making music or singing was women" said Mr. Jafarian. Since he introduced his ensemble to the country, they have gained expertise as musicians, pride as women, and the attention of that means so much to them. The orchestra gives performances in the ancient arts-loving city of Shiraz, with dreams of some day performing abroad.

The women play their violins, santurs and dafs, (large, flat drums) in the parlour of this blind musician's home, celebrating their femininity, their culture, their heritage, and their future.