Dariush Safvat

Dariush (Daryush) Safvat (Persian: داريوش صفوت‎‎‎; 1928 – 17 April 2013) was an internationally renowned and well-respected Persian music master and ethnomusicologist. Dr. Safvat was the founder and a former director of the Center for Preservation and Propagation of Iranian Music. Some credit Dr. Safvat with saving traditional music from obliteration in the 1970s. The Center counts among its graduates some of the most prolific and admired masters of classical Persian music, including Mohammad Reza Lotfi, Hossein Alizadeh, Hossein Omoumi, Parisa, the late Nasser Farhangfar, Dariush Talai, Majid Kiani and Mahmoud Farahmand.

Dr. Safvat was born on November 28, 1928 in Shiraz, Persia (present-day Iran). He received a B.A. in Law from the University of Tehran in 1953 and a Ph.D. in International Law from the Paris School of Law (France) in 1965. Over the course of his distinguished career, he held many key posts in academia and the music scene, among them a Fellow at The Academy of Sciences, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Dr. Safvat died on April 17, 2013 in Karaj, Iran from natural causes.

Dr. Safvat is best known for his mastery of Setar and Santour. He began learning to play the Setar at an early age from his father, Ali Asghar Safvat, who also played the ancient instrument. Among others, Dr. Safvat studied with two other Masters of Persian classical music, Abolhasan Saba and Haj Agha Mohammad Irani. He is credited with having taught some of the most talented Iranian musicians of the 20th century in Iran, including well-known santour players Parviz Meshkatian and Majid Kiani, and master setar player, Jalal Zolfonoun. However, Dr. Safvat himself claims the person who had the most influence on his life and music was Ostad Elahi, a Persian judge, philosopher, theologian and master musician.

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