Faraz Minooei
Contemporary Classical Iranian
santur player and composer
Nazemi santur
About santur and Master Mehdi Nazemi
Santurs made by Master Mehdi Nazemi (1905-1997) are known to be national treasures of Iran. He was born in the city of Yazd and later became as the best Iranian santur maker. His interpretation of geometry and design has served a conceptual model for santur makers for more than 50 years. "During his life span he made about 50 to 60 santurs" (Arfa' Atraie) and destroyed instruments he was not satisfied with. He worked closly with the musician masters of his time such as Habib Somai (1901-1946) and Faramarz Payvar (1933-2009). His instruments are kept at museums or played by current santur masters.
The pictures in this page present the instrument owned by Faraz Minooei as the third owner.
History of this santur made by Mehdi Nazemi
#1
Mehdi Nazemi's Signature - Inside the santur
#2
This G-tuning 9-bridge (Standard) santur was made in 1958. "The wood for this instrument came from a very old door of a caravansary in the Abadeh Road, around the city of Shiraz." - Mehdi Nazemi. It is crafted from walnut wood and all the materials such as color and glue are pure organic.
Mehdi Nazemi at his wrokplace
Mehdi Nazemi (1905 - 1997)
#3
#4
Master Nazemi made three santurs from this door and sold them to Hossein Saba, Faramarz Payvar, and Dariush Safvat, three prominent Iranian classical musicians. These three santurs had the same black mark in the back. Detailed description of these three santurs are availble in the book "Santur and Nazemi" by Arfa' Atraie.
Faramarz Payvar (1933 - 2009)
Hossein Saba (1924 - 1960)
#5 - Black marks
#6
Hossein Saba's santur was not treated well. It broke and it was not repairable. It is said that Faramarz Payvar sold his santur in U.S. after his tours. Dariush Safvat's santur (the oldest one from these three) was kept in pristine condition. Safvat sold this santur to Hossein Saba and Faramarz Payvar to travel to France in 1960.
#7
#8
Hossein Saba and Faramarz Payvar bought this instrument for Arfa' Atraie (1971 - present), who was taking classes with both masters at that time. Atraie has played this instrument everyday in her classes, Radio Iran and TV shows, and numerous concerts in Iran and abroad.
Dariush Safvat (1928 - 2013)
First Owner
Arfa' Atraie (1971 - present)
Second Owner
#9
#10
This santur has not change at all and is at its best condition and can be used for recordings and concerts. Arfa Atraie sold this instrument to Faraz Minooei in 2017.
