The past two years. They are interested in world music, and especially in Iranian songs and music. There has been widespread demand for their work. On the 20th June 1999 they gave a concert in Islington for the Islington International Music Festival, 16th of July they held one in Italy, 3rd of November in the WNYC in New York, and on the 20th of November in Venice.

(BIBN) What problems have you encountered on the way to success?

(PC) At the age of seven I joined a radio station in Ahvaz to be part of a children's programme, and continued with this well into my teens. At the tender age of sixteen, I sang the folk song "Shir Ali Mardan" which went on to become very famous amongst the Khuzestanis, Bakhtiaris and so on. Later, I entered Tehran University to study English Literature. While there I worked with the Tehran Music group under the supervision of Dr Reza Narvand, and also joined Evelina Baghcheban's choir group. We had one of the best and most famous choir groups in the whole of the Middle-East. I learned quite a few techniques in my time there. I have more or less continued singing since then. My real debut was a concert in June 1993 at the Royal Festival Hall, and that was with Farnoush Behzad.

Our first production was a CD called Miras, and with the help of an old friend who wanted to help with the expansion of Iranian culture we were able to successfully produce it. We had a concert last February at the Royal Festival Hall at which we launched the CD. At the moment another colleague, Manoucher Hosseinpour, is in contact with all our publications and all other media in Europe and America so that we can advertise ourselves. Only last week a young gentleman approached me, and said he is interested in creating a new mix of music, a combination of Persian folk music, Jewish folk/religious music and some folk music from West Virginia..Our parent company, The Grateful Music Company, are in the process of opening a web-site, and I hope that with the aid of the internet we can attract even more people like him.

(BIBN) What kind of audience do you attract?

(PC) Obviously Mr Farnoush Behzad, who is responsible for the musical set-up, and myself have tried to choose songs that will appeal to all sorts of people. From Shir Ali Mardan to the Marjangeh song. The way that he has arranged these songs is a combination of Eastern musical instruments and Western electronic gadgets so that it should appeal to a younger audience. We have tried to reach out to all sorts of audiences.

(BIBA) What do you believe can be done now to help your style of music flourish?

(PC) Well, something that I have a passionate belief in is that the Iranian community needs a place such as a center of art and culture. We should try to address that issue, and set up a center for ourselves, which in turn will increase interest in the arts and will hopefully make it easier for young hopefuls to flourish.

Parvin Cox's debut in Britain was in 1993,performing at the Purcell Room, London(South Bank). Soon after she joined the music workshops for the International Medical Foundation formed by the acclaimed singer Barb Jungr. The result of this collaboration is the forming of the 'Shehrezad Ensemble'.

Parvin began her musical work with Jocelyn Pook Ensemble in 1998. Ms Pook is now an established film and TV composer and her original music for Stanley Kubrick's final film 'Eyes Wide Shut was nominated for two awards. Since joining the Ensemble, they have performed in London, New York (World Financial Center), and numerous cities in Italy. Parvin has also sung on Jocelyn Pook's new album Untold Things released on Real World Records.

In February 1999 Parvin performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (London South Bank) launching her first album 'Miras', a combination of Iranian folk songs. To obtain this CD please contact:

Lyn, Meg or chris@targetfollow.u-net.com

(Tel.No. +44 (0)1603 - 767616.

Parvin has also recorded music by the British Italian composer Dario Marianelli for drams films for cinema and television (BBC2). On hearing one of Jocelyn Pook's musical productions, Parvin was approached by Sir John Tavener for the recording of a moving piece of music with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for a film by Werner Herzog called 'Pilgrimage'. On the 1st of March 2001 through a live performance at the Barbican Center in London Parvin gave the most moving performance ever of the Tavener/Herzog musical and film collaboration called Sound On Film Live. She has received eye catching reviews by top London news paper music critics such as : the Observer and Times.
Richard Morrison, The Times : Tuesday March 6, 2001: ''It was a relief to escape to the eternal dirges of Sir John Tavener, and I never thought I would write those words. But Tavener's soundtrack for Pilgrimage, the last of the BBC films, must rank as one of his better efforts. As simple harmonies are sustained by stringsand a boys' choir, a stunning Sufi singer called 'Parvin Cox' begins a long series of hypnotic chants, rising to an ecstatic climax and then subsiding into peace. What a pity that the BBC is showing it so late on a weekday night. Why not schedule it for the main BBC1 ''God Slot" one Sunday evening? In 15 minutes it would do more to rouse the faithful and intrigue the sceptics than Songs of Praise has achieved in 15 years."

Reported by Pej Danaee
Source; Time Bomb

“Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. That Omid Nourizadeh chap can do absolutely no wrong at the moment…” (Burn it Blue . com music review)

Omid Nourizadeh started his own ALOLA and Disclosure labels in 1993 releasing singles by himself and gradually by other artists such as House of 909 and Vince Watson.

Amongst the 12 Inches he released on his labels, his track " snow " under the alias O.R.N was picked up from BMG. Re-released in 95 and went top 40. He signed a deal with EYE Q the critically acclaimed album "sounds from another room" was released.

Omid started his own live bands. The full 5 piece band and strings appeared on the Jo Whiley show on channel 4 in June 98. Performing "wateride" along with Embrace. Played live with the band to an audience of 800 people in Brixton (at Mass). Played the lollipop festival along side "Terry Callier", "A tribe called quest" and others.

He has done various Remixes including mixes for "The Cure”,"morel","Steve Lawler", "Halo Varga", "Two lone swordsmen", "Gus Gus", "Natasha Atlas" and many more.

His music aliases are 16B, PHASER, ORN, CHANGING SHAPE.and16Million $ man.
Everyone from Sasha to Tenaglia to Francois Kevorkian to Morales to Weatherall to Pete Tong to John Digweed / Danny Howels to Colin Dale to Ashley Beedle have played and loved Omids music.

He has been hailed as being "at the leading edge of the UK house scene".

He has DJ-ed and performed live all around the world including Japan, Australia and America. He has monthly residencies at the big MoJo London, Elements, and the milk bar Istanbul.

He is signed to Airtight records as "changing Shape", "The metamorphosis EP" out in Feb. 2000.. Also just signed to Hooj Choons for a 16B album.

He is currently working on the new 16B album. Omid has just finished a mini tour of Australia that saw him play to packed-out venues over the West coast, "The Tank"and "The Slipp Inn".

He returns to add the final touches to his mix of the Idjut Boys & Quakerman classic 'Schlamm Me' (for release on Alola) and to continue updating his in-demand live show/ DJ sets.

Look out for a high profile DJ mix Double album out at the beginning of 2001on Hooj Titled "form and function" and a follow up album to 'Sounds from another room' that will appear towards the summer of the same year.


DJ Omid Nourizadeh

Romilda’s aria sung to Xerxes:
"False love dies unlamented –
it is not worth possession."

To most people the name XERXES equates to the ancient king who ruled Persia (486-465 BC). In Greek history, Herodotus refers to the Persian king as the "tyrant" who bridged the Hellespont, captured Athens, then watched his Aegean fleet destroyed in a storm. There is an echo of this incident in Byron’s famous description of Xerxes seated on the base of Mount Aegaleos watching his ships sinking at Salamis. That’s the history bit. But how many people know of Xerxes as an opera? In fact, Handel’s Xerxes was first performed at the King’s Theatre, Haymarket in 1738. It was based on an earlier Venetian opera of the same name, performed in 1645 and composed by Cavalli. In 1988 Nicholas Hytner’s highly innovative production of Handel’s comic opera was performed at the English National Opera winning the coveted Laurence Olivier Opera Award. Divided into three acts and starring Ann Murray as Xerxes, who falls in love with Romilda, sung by Valerie Masterson, the opera is filled with a series of funny and enjoyable scenes. When I first went to see Xerxes I had not expected to see such a stunning and elegant series of curious and absorbing images. In the ENO production, the director, and David Fielding, the designer, set the action in an eighteenth-century vision of Ancient Persia. The result was an elegant set in which huge props (such as a winged Assyrian bull or a griffin) made welcome if slightly baffling appearances. Furthermore, though the characters were supposed to be Ancient Persians, their behaviour was distinctly British; indeed, as Sarah Lenton, the author of Backstage at the Opera, observed, "the inhibitions and levels of embarrassment on stage made it quite clear that, for this show at least, ‘Persian’ and ‘British’ were synonymous." Perhaps, the most impressive aspect of the opera for me was a faithful reproduction of a small-scale Persepolis in the background juxtaposed with actors strutting around in Versailles-like court uniforms and wigs, sitting in deck-chairs and waving umbrellas as bald gardeners trimmed the hedges in the palace grounds. PS. BIBA would like to launch an appeal to the British-Iranian community to stage another production of Xerxes at the new English National Opera.


The Production Of Xerxes At The ENO