Iranian women inspire world premiere in Seattle
Nika Shakarami
“You cannot stop the emancipation of women.”
–Tahirih
World Premiere: Phoenix
A Musical Testimony of Women’s Rights Struggle in Iran
created by composer Sahba Aminikia and librettist Zara Houshmand
Music of Remembrance • March 10, 2024 • Benaroya Hall
SEATTLE, WA – February 20, 2024 – On September 20, 2022, 16-year-old Nika Shakarami joined other Iranian girls and citizens in protesting the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of the Iranian morality police after appearing in public without the mandated head covering. The teenager’s bravery was the stuff of legends: Nika climbed atop an overturned garbage bin, set her headscarf on fire in full view of hostile police forces, and chanted “death to the dictator” as the flames engulfed it. A few hours later, she went missing – and 10 days later, she was dead.
These deaths sparked worldwide outrage and fueled public protests in Iran for months. Now, Nika’s story has inspired a new musical work, written by the Iranian American creative team of composer Sahba Aminikia and librettist Zara Houshmand. Phoenix, or Qaqnus in Persian, receives its world premiere on March 10, 2024, at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. The piece is scored for three female voices, representing three generations of Iranian women who share the challenges that have demanded their courage and the deep cultural history underlying the current uprising.
“Iran has a 150-year history of movements promoting women’s rights and pursuing a vision of equality under the law,” said composer Sahba Aminikia. “Growing up in Iran, I was raised by my grandmother, my mother, and my older sister, who each carried the expectations of the different historic periods they lived through. My generation knows that the next major social and political revolution in Iran will be led by women. Like the qaqnus of Persian mythology, the future of the Iranian people will be created by our own transformation and rebirth through fire.”
“The stunning uprising that we have recently witnessed on the streets of Iran’s cities has deep roots,” said librettist Zara Houshmand. “The symbolic removal of the hijab is not a simple response to modernity and foreign influence, but part of a more profound movement within the culture itself, and the role of women at its forefront is essential to its success. In exploring the stories of the women of my own family, I was intrigued to discover a very long tradition of Iranian women’s public protest that was fearless and dramatically charged.”
The work has been commissioned by Music of Remembrance (MOR), a Seattle-based organization widely acclaimed for its commitment to developing new works that use art to confront compelling issues in today’s world. MOR Artistic Director Mina Miller has programmed the work’s world premiere alongside International Women’s Day (March 8), which emphasizes collective action to celebrate women’s achievements in all spheres while also calling for the acceleration of women’s equality. Miller praised the empathy and emotion that ground the storytelling in Phoenix, and she believes audiences will be reminded of their common humanity with the women who inspired the piece.
“I hope audiences take away a sense of these women as real human beings,” agreed Houshmand. “These aren’t just figments from the news – they are people with common hopes and a deeply felt sense of faith in the future. I hope these beautiful melodies and texts convey their determination. Too often, Americans stereotype Iranian women as feeble – but what we have seen in demonstrations recently shows incredible courage.”
“Many people believe the current struggle in Iran is only for women,” added Aminikia. “But we must not segregate the cry for freedom. In the existing societal structure, men are also pressed into forms and shapes that do not fit them. Oppressed people must shout together, louder and more vividly, so that our shared struggle cannot be ignored. I believe the result will be a more open and accepting society for everyone.”
The antecedents of a more equal society in Iran include Tahirih, a prominent figure in 19th-century Middle Eastern history, who inspired women at a time when most were kept illiterate and obscured from the public eye. Like Nika Shakarami, Tahirih appeared unveiled before a gathering of men – and like Nika, she was executed for this defiant leadership. Before her death, Tahirih issued a bold statement that still resonates today: “You can kill me as soon as you’d like, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women.”
Iranian American creative team of composer Sahba Aminikia and librettist Zara Houshmand
Phoenix
World Premiere & MOR Commission
Sunday, March 10, 2024 @ 5:30 pm
Benaroya Hall (200 University Street)
Seattle, Washington
Tickets $60
musicofremembrance.org/phoenix
Composer: Sahba Aminikia
Librettist: Zara Houshmand
featuring sopranos Vanessa Isiguen and Madeline Ross; mezzo-soprano Rachel Hauge
About Sahba Aminikia
Sahba Aminikia is a San Francisco-based composer and educator, whose work is described by San Francisco Classical Voice as “telling timeless stories through music.” Born in post-revolutionary Iran, he is committed to a belief that music can be a catalyst for change. Trained classically and influenced globally, Aminikia’s work has been performed around the world. His varied commissions include the Kronos Quartet, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Symphony Parnassus, San Francisco Conservatory of Music New Music Ensemble, Mobius Trio, Delphi Trio and Living Earth Show. Aminikia is the Artistic Director for the Flying Carpet Festival, a mobile music festival which serves children in need in war zones. He also serves as the Musical Director for Sirkhane, a non-profit organization based in Mardin, Southern Turkey, that serves around 400,000 children through circus arts and music.
About Zara Houshmand
Zara Houshmand is an Iranian American writer raised in the Philippines and educated in London, whose work bridges cultural divides and includes poetry, theatre, memoir, and literary translation. She was a pioneer in the use of virtual reality as an art form and platform for poetry, and her installation Beyond Manzanar (with Tamiko Thiel) has been exhibited widely around the world. She worked with the Mind & Life Institute for two decades on books representing the Dalai Lama’s dialogues with Western scientists. Her theater work includes award-winning translations of Bijan Mofid’s plays, and her own plays have been produced in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Her poetry has been widely published in anthologies. Her most recent book is Moon and Sun (2020), a bilingual edition of her translations of Rumi’s rubaiyat.
About Music of Remembrance
Established in 1998, Music of Remembrance (MOR) has made a unique impact through works that honor the resilience of all people excluded or persecuted for faith, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality. Its programs pay tribute to historic memory – and directly confront challenges to human rights and dignity today. In addition to its work discovering and performing music from the Holocaust, MOR is admired around the world for its leadership in commissioning and premiering new works by leading composers, including varied chamber ensembles, song cycles, choral works, dance music, film scores, musical dramas, and full-length operas. MOR’s online concerts, nine albums, three documentary films, and many outreach programs have added to the impact experienced by live audiences. MOR’s annual David Tonkonogui Memorial Award welcomes new generations along on this journey, nurturing young musicians who seek to address issues of human rights through their art.
Press Contact: Beth Stewart
Verismo Communications
Tel: 618.444.3183 | Email: beth@verismopr.com
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