User talk:Arash Sodagaran

Resume’ of Dalia Anavian, Promoter of Persian culture in Japan

Born in Tehran, Iran to an Israeli father and Iranian mother(October 2, 1967), Dalia Anavian moved to Japan with her parents at the age of four((1972). After a well-rounded education at the international Canadian Academy in Kobe, she attended the French Fashion Academy in Manhattan, N.Y.(1986)

Dalia Anavian was chosen to co-host NHK’s “Silk Road: The Romantic Journey”, a highly successful 24-part television series (1988). The following year she co-hosted the Asahi Broadcasting Corporation’s JCB-sponsored “Journey of Harmony” radio program(1989). Granddaughter of a collector of ancient Persian artifacts and a friend of historian Egami Namio and novelist Yasushi Inoue, she created Anavian Gallery: Persian Fine Art Collection in the Miyako Hotel in Osaka, showcasing a stunning array of Persian artifacts: carpets, crafts, shawls and ceramics(1989). This veritable treasure chest was the property of her illustrious grandfather, a celebrated art expert and advisor to The National Museum of Iran in Tehran. The gallery was the source for The Persian Shawl Pavilion in The Asia Museum in Tottori(1993). Simultaneously, Dalia served the international community in Japan (predominantly, victims of the long Iran-Iraq confrontation) for a decade (1995-2005) as an interpreter at police departments, immigration offices, detention centers and court trials. She also volunteered to translate for Afghani and Kurdish refugees in the Kansai Region. Beginning in 2001 and continuing today, Dalia is known for giving lectures on the culture and history of her native Iran as well as Israel, where she spent 2005 studying Hebrew and investigating the fascinating Holy Land; offer Persian cuisine cooking classes and produce Persian music and dinner evenings. Her original Persian Four Seasons dessert, a heavenly concoction featuring saffron, vanilla, chocolate and mint, has been sold at the JAL Hotel in Ibaraki.

Pouri Anavian: Art Maven, Santourist, Author Of Persian-Japanese Conversation Book

Musical Accomplishments Pouri Anavian performed her first santour concert at the age of five in Tehran. Majoring in piano (under the tutelage of Professor Javaad Marufi) and musicology, she graduated from the Music Conservatoire and then attended Tehran University. Upon moving to Japan in 1972, at the age of twenty-six, she studied piano with Professor Okumura, formerly of the prestigious Julliard School of Music in New York. It was her first instrument, the santour, a precursor of the piano, which jump-started her professional career. The Japanese National Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), intrigued by the unique sound of the seventy-two-stringed instrument, contracted with her to perform the soundtrack of “Mibu No Koi Uta”. She honed her skills for this weekly television drama. A saga about the samurai of the Edo Era, the production enjoyed a six-month broadcast. Since then, she has performed in cultural centers, concert halls and even played several times for members of the Japanese Imperial Family. Her activities celebrating traditional Persian music and culture have been frequently reviewed with acclaim in newspapers and magazines in Japan. By popular demand, she is presenting more concerts and cultural programs than ever. At present, Pouri Anavian is a lecturer at Osaka College of Music, where she has taught the santour to over five hundred students in the past twenty-nine years.

Cultural Ambassador In 1978 Pouri Anavian published the first Persian conversation book for the Japanese public. She was one of the founders of the Persian Shawl Pavilion of the Asia Museum, in Tottori Prefecture in 1993 and also provided one of the world’s most impressive and important Persian brocade collections for it. The 2000-piece lot, including shawls, robes and murals, was mostly commissioned by the Persian Royal family and painstakingly and lovingly culled by her father, a legendary art connoisseur. Playing an important role in the establishment of The Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments in 1995, she researched, advised about, purchased and supplied a collection of traditional musical instruments of the Silk Road from Greater Persia (including Turkey and Central Asia) for the center. Ever striving to revive her cultural heritage, Pouri annually invites to Japan accomplished artists – classical and folk music ensembles, dancers, poets, painters, calligraphers and artisans – to stage programs and shows. In 2002, she traveled to Tehran with six of her female Japanese santour students. Dressed in veils and kimonos, as a tribute to both cultures, Pouri and her troupe presented a critically-praised concert in Honar Saraye Niyaavaraan in Tehran, the first-ever concert of its kind.