Faramarz Payvar & Ensemble

Pāyvar Ensemble (Persian: گروه پایور) is a Persian traditional band formed in Iran in 1966. Early years called Goruh-e Asatid (Ensemble of Maestros). Pāyvar Ensemble is a group of Masters of Persian classical music lead by Faramarz Payvar. He is one of Iran's best Santour player. The Ensemble began performing on Iranian TV and giving concerts at Tehran's new Rudaki concert hall before Islamic revelution. They were often featured at the Shiraz International Arts Festival, which ran from 1967 to 1977, but it became one of several cultural casualties of the looming Islamic Revolution. The Ministry of Art and Culture followed suit, as did Payvar's associated group, which had by then changed its name to the Payvar Ensemble. With the exception of "revolutionary anthems", music was completely banned in Iran from 1979 and all through the Iran-Iraq war, which ended in 1988. However, Payvar continued to teach privately during this period, and when the ban was lifted in 1989, he performed the first public concert at Rudaki hall. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.