{"id":1024,"date":"2012-04-12T22:25:08","date_gmt":"2012-04-12T22:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.icfhouston.com\/?p=1024"},"modified":"2025-12-17T20:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T02:04:10","slug":"who-is-mohsen-namjoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/fa\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Is Mohsen Namjoo?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>Taken from Mohsen Namjoo&#8217;s official website, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mohsennamjoo.com\" target=\"_blank\">www.mohsennamjoo.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.icfhouston.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/homeMain.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1025\" title=\"Mohsen Namjoo\" src=\"http:\/\/www.icfhouston.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/homeMain.jpg\" alt=\"Mohsen Namjoo\" width=\"550\" height=\"446\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mohsen Namjoo is an Iranian artist, songwriter, singer, music scholar and setar (traditional Persian lute) player based in California. Born in 1976 in Torbat-e Jam, Iran, Namjoo began his musical training at the age of twelve, studying under Nasrollah Nasehpoor until the age of eighteen. In 1994 Namjoo began to study Theater and Music at the University of Tehran, where he was trained under Alireza Mashayekhi, Azin Movahed and other masters. Namjoo also studied Iranian folk music under Haj Ghorbane Soleimani. His unique music style resembles a patchwork of Persian classical poetry of Hafez, Rumi or Saadi with western music, namely rock, blues, and jazz.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Since 2003, Namjoo has recorded parts of his works in Tehran. His debut album titled Toranj was officially released in Iran in September 2007 with his own voice featured in most of his creations. He has also composed soundtracks for movies and plays, and was featured in the documentary Sounds of Silence (directed by Amir Hamz and Mark Lazarz) which has been screened at international film festivals. He also appeared in a feature narrative film called\u00a0<em>Few Kilograms of Dates<\/em> <em>for the Funeral<\/em> (Director Saman Salur). Namjoo\u2019s first performance outside of Iran was in January 2006 at the Tehran Hotspot of the International Rotterdam Film Festival where he played solo. In 2009 he was sentenced in absentia to a five-year jail term by the Iranian revolutionary courts for allegedly ridiculing the ash-Shams, a sura of Qur\u2019an in the song named \u201cShams\u201d . The conviction took place in spite of his formal apology. After establishing in the West, he sang this song in his\u00a0<em>Oy<\/em> album which was produced in Italy in 2009.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In 2008 Namjoo kicked off his first solo US tour, which granted him the Visiting Artist Fellowship at Stanford University, co-sponsored by the Christina &amp; Hamid Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies and the Music Department at Stanford. In 2010, Namjoo partnered with Payam Entertainment to present\u00a0<em>Namjoo in A Minor<\/em> with a new ensemble centered around some of his most popular and controversial songs. They performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Sony Center in Toronto, Canada and the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. Payam Entertainment released Namjoo\u2019s latest album\u00a0<em>Useless Kisses<\/em> in 2011, and<em> Alaki<\/em> in 2012, which live recording from a performance at the Stanford University in February 2011. In the fall of 2011, Namjoo joined the team of celebrated New Yorke based Iranian artist Shirin Neshat as the music director of her performance\u00a0<em>OverRuled<\/em>, commissioned by the Performa 2011 Festival in New York City. He is currently working with the Iranian filmmaker, scholar and play write, Bahram Beyzai on his new project commissioned by Stanford University. Namjoo continues touring the world and creating new music. His new album entitled \u201cThirteen\/Eight\u201d is due in the fall of 2012.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hailed as \u201cthe Bob Dylan of Iran\u201d by the New York Times, Mohsen Namjoo is a visionary artist who speaks for and touches the souls of today\u2019s youth. Seamlessly blending the Classical with the Modern, the ancient with the current, Mohsen Namjoo is a true musical maverick.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Taken from Mohsen Namjoo&#8217;s official website, www.mohsennamjoo.com. Mohsen Namjoo is an Iranian artist, songwriter, singer, music scholar and setar (traditional&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43,72,76,81,88,115],"class_list":{"0":"post-1024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-icf-events","7":"tag-asia-society","8":"tag-icf","9":"tag-iranian","10":"tag-lute","11":"tag-mohsen-namjoo","12":"tag-toranj","13":"pmpro-has-access"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Who Is Mohsen Namjoo? - Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fa_IR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who Is Mohsen Namjoo? - Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Taken from Mohsen Namjoo&#8217;s official website, www.mohsennamjoo.com. Mohsen Namjoo is an Iranian artist, songwriter, singer, music scholar and setar (traditional...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ICFHouston\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-12T22:25:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-18T02:04:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ICF Houston\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u0646\u0648\u0634\u062a\u0647\u200c\u0634\u062f\u0647 \u0628\u062f\u0633\u062a\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ICF Houston\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"\u0632\u0645\u0627\u0646 \u062a\u0642\u0631\u06cc\u0628\u06cc \u0628\u0631\u0627\u06cc \u062e\u0648\u0627\u0646\u062f\u0646\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 \u062f\u0642\u06cc\u0642\u0647\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ICF Houston\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d7b57128b387f9d2caf1cb6a927191c3\"},\"headline\":\"Who Is Mohsen Namjoo?\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-12T22:25:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-18T02:04:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":525,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.icfhouston.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/homeMain.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Asia Society\",\"ICF\",\"Iranian\",\"lute\",\"Mohsen Namjoo\",\"Toranj\"],\"articleSection\":[\"ICF Events\"],\"inLanguage\":\"fa-IR\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\\\/\",\"name\":\"Who Is Mohsen Namjoo? - Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.icfhouston.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/homeMain.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-12T22:25:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-18T02:04:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fa-IR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fa-IR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.icfhouston.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/homeMain.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.icfhouston.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/homeMain.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/fa\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Who Is Mohsen Namjoo?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston\",\"description\":\"The Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston (ICF) is a non-profit, non-political organization with no religious affiliation that fosters the educational, social, and charitable interests of the Iranian-American community.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fa-IR\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fa-IR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/ICF_Logo_High_Res.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/ICF_Logo_High_Res.png\",\"width\":1390,\"height\":2510,\"caption\":\"Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ICFHouston\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/icfhouston\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d7b57128b387f9d2caf1cb6a927191c3\",\"name\":\"ICF Houston\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/icfhouston.com\\\/fa\\\/author\\\/icfadmin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Who Is Mohsen Namjoo? - Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/","og_locale":"fa_IR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Who Is Mohsen Namjoo? - Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston","og_description":"Taken from Mohsen Namjoo&#8217;s official website, www.mohsennamjoo.com. Mohsen Namjoo is an Iranian artist, songwriter, singer, music scholar and setar (traditional...","og_url":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/","og_site_name":"Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ICFHouston\/","article_published_time":"2012-04-12T22:25:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-18T02:04:10+00:00","author":"ICF Houston","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"\u0646\u0648\u0634\u062a\u0647\u200c\u0634\u062f\u0647 \u0628\u062f\u0633\u062a":"ICF Houston","\u0632\u0645\u0627\u0646 \u062a\u0642\u0631\u06cc\u0628\u06cc \u0628\u0631\u0627\u06cc \u062e\u0648\u0627\u0646\u062f\u0646":"3 \u062f\u0642\u06cc\u0642\u0647"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/"},"author":{"name":"ICF Houston","@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d7b57128b387f9d2caf1cb6a927191c3"},"headline":"Who Is Mohsen Namjoo?","datePublished":"2012-04-12T22:25:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-18T02:04:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/"},"wordCount":525,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.icfhouston.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/homeMain.jpg","keywords":["Asia Society","ICF","Iranian","lute","Mohsen Namjoo","Toranj"],"articleSection":["ICF Events"],"inLanguage":"fa-IR"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/","url":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/","name":"Who Is Mohsen Namjoo? - Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.icfhouston.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/homeMain.jpg","datePublished":"2012-04-12T22:25:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-18T02:04:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fa-IR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fa-IR","@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.icfhouston.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/homeMain.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.icfhouston.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/homeMain.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/who-is-mohsen-namjoo\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/fa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Who Is Mohsen Namjoo?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/","name":"Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston","description":"The Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston (ICF) is a non-profit, non-political organization with no religious affiliation that fosters the educational, social, and charitable interests of the Iranian-American community.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fa-IR"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/#organization","name":"Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston","url":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fa-IR","@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/ICF_Logo_High_Res.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/ICF_Logo_High_Res.png","width":1390,"height":2510,"caption":"Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ICFHouston\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/icfhouston"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d7b57128b387f9d2caf1cb6a927191c3","name":"ICF Houston","url":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/fa\/author\/icfadmin\/"}]}},"menu_order":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icfhouston.com\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}