Iranian singers push boundaries, face restrictions
Iranian authorities have begun to crack down on female singers and musicians, despite attempts by the culture minister to issue more licenses for performances.
Amid the political clashes in Iran, more and more unwritten restrictions are being imposed on female singers and musicians every day. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women have been banned from singing in solo performances and today, after 36 years, steps are being taken by hard-liners to prohibit women from playing musical instruments as well.
“I could not release a music album in Iran and the situation was even worse when [former President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad was in office,” Fariba Davoudi, a singer who has reached the master level in teaching radif (the styles of traditional Iranian music), told Al-Monitor. “When they arrested my student, I realized that I can no longer stay in Iran.”
Today, she has an office in the School of Performing Arts at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. Davoudi has male and female students from all around the world and she teaches them via Skype.
“Based on the recommendation of my mentor, Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, I spend most of my time with women who are interested in singing," she said. "Half of my students are female.”
