Faraz Minooei
Contemporary Classical Iranian
santur player and composer
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 closely 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.
---> To hear this instrument please click here (Performed by Faraz Minooei)
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.
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.
This santur is at its best condition and can be used for recordings and concerts. Arfa Atraie sold this instrument to Faraz Minooei in 2017.