Report on
WAALM®'s Official Announcements by Darius KADIVAR
With a deeply rooted culture
and civilization that spans over more than two millenniums, Persians as a
community both inside and outside their motherland have greatly contributed to
the Arts and intellectual emancipation of their contemporaries. Paradoxically
the turmoil's of history and exile have also enriched an introspection on
ourselves as a community and on our responsibility as Artists, Writers or
Intellectuals as well as citizens of our country of adoption to play a part in a
dialogue of civilizations so necessary in our tormented World. It is to respond
to the growing desire of not only recognition but also encouragement of Persian Artists, Writers and people of culture
Worldwide as well as that of their colleagues in their new country of adoption
that The World Academy of Arts, Literature, and Media – WAALM® took an unprecedented
initiative to support, develop, and promote the dramatic and fine arts, creative
writing and poetry, as well as professional journalism and media productions by
identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners, and benefiting
the public. The Persian Golden Lioness
Awards®, sometimes are referred to
as Iranian Oscars because they recognizes outstanding contributions
to Persian-related arts, literature, and media in a glitzy black-tie and evening
gown ceremony has no other ambition than to
encourage and promote men and women who through their work subscribe to the
humanistic values and love of beauty so dearly cherished by our great Persian
poets through the ages.
Among the other awardees from 6
different nationalities, the Golden Lioness Statuette will be conferred this
year to two of our legends: Master Jahanbakhsh Pazoki in category of
Music for his creative Melody in Persian Contemporary Pop and Mrs. Homa
Mirafshar in category of Literature for her Lyrics of
excellence.
Jahanbakhsh Pazoki was born in 1937 in Shiraz and is known as one
of the greatest Persian Composers and Lyricists. While he was only fourteen
moved to Esfahan – one of the most artistic and culturally rich cities of
Persia and settled there.
His interest in music began at the
age seven and picked Flute as his first instrument. Later in his youth he
selected Violin as for his professional instrument and studied music with
several masters such as: Jalil Shahnaz and Taaj Esfahani.
Jahanbakhsh studied international
classic music for over four years and is familiar with the most outstanding
world-class composers’ masterpieces. The combination of his first hand melodies
and meaningful lyrics has made him a unique figure in Persian music. Jahanbakhsh
has composed and written over 1000 Contemporary Pop as well as Classic Music
Scores and Lyrics and worked with remarkable vocalist artists such as Hooshmand
Aghili, Mahasti, and Sattar who were all among the academy award winners of
2005.
Jahanbakhsh is married to Niloofar
Foroutan an artist in her own rights and father of two daughters, Niloofar and
Negar. After the 1979 revolution in Persia/Iran they migrated to the
US and resided in
LA.
Homa Homayoun
(Mirafshar) began writing poetry during her high school years. She married Ali Mirafshar and adopted
his last name to become famous as Homa Mirafshar. Homa’s poems, photo, and biography were
published in daily newspapers and weekly magazines. Mother of two children : a
son Kevin and a daughter Katayoun. Under the reign of the Former Shah of
Persia, with the encouragement of the
renowned songwriter, Assadollah Malek, Homa Mirafshar enrolled into university
night courses to ultimately receive a degree in literature. In 1962, she entered the musical realm
as a lyricist.
Her lyrics were sang and performed by the most famous
and prominent artists of the time such as the last year award winner
Sattar.
Homa Mirafshar’s many
accomplishments include three books called Gol Poonehah (Pennyroyal
Flowers) published in Persia/Iran, a more personal and touching biographical
account 3252 published in England, and Alaleh
(Buttercup Flowers) published in the United States of America (U.S.A.). A fourth book, which is a collection of
her memories as a lyricist in Persia, is in the process of being published in
the U.S.A.
More over Homa Mirafshar is also the
lyricist of the signature song for the Persian Golden Lioness
Awards®, the music of which will be
composed by Master Muhammad Heidari, the award winner of 2005. The
Academy’s signature song will be recorded and performed by Sattar the
Classic and Contemporary Pop vocalist artist of excellence who was as well an
award winner of 2005(**).
The Hosts : Prof. M. Dorbayani, PhD and Dr. Marjan Abdi, PhD
the
Founders of The World Academy of Arts, Literature, and Media – WAALM®
And Directors of the International
Further Studies Institute-IFSI® www.ifsi.hu
The 2nd Annual Persian Golden Lioness Awards®
will be held in Budapest in October of 2006.
Hungary and its beautiful,
cultural and historical capital Budapest is not only the host city for the
Awards but also one of the Award winning nations being honored and participating
in all categories of our academy. WAALM
® will give full accommodation to the Awardees for their
three-day stay visit that will include a tour of the city's highlights and will
culminate by the Awards Ceremony. The latter will be covered by our academy's
Media Partner KTV® a major
broadcasting Hungarian company that will showcase the event to more than 300 000
Viewers.
Author's
Notes :
(*) The
World Academy of Arts, Literature, and Media- WAALM® is an
extension and awarding body of the International Further Studies Institute-IFSI®
www.ifsi.hu .
(**) Sattar’s Official Website: www.sattarmusic.net
Learn
More about the Awards:
http://www.payvand.com/news/06/apr/1087.html
http://www.payvand.com/news/06/may/1123.html
http://www.payvand.com/news/06/may/1170.html
http://www.payvand.com/news/06/may/1232.html
http://www.payvand.com/news/06/may/1293.html
About the Author: Darius KADIVAR is a Freelance
Journalist, Columnist of the OCPC Magazine. He operates as Paris based PR & Press
for WAALM® 2nd annual Awards
2006.
