Ideas The power of music in the shadow of Iran
Mar 12, 2026
Tahereh Falahati, a Tehran-trained traditional Persian singer now in North Vancouver. Kaveh Mirhosseini, composer/conductor and researcher of Iranian folk music. Iman Habibi, award-winning composer and pianist blending Persian poetry with Western classical forms. They discuss music as cultural force, banned singing and protest songs, composing after tragedy, cross-cultural bridges, and the diaspora’s ties to Iran.
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Music As Cultural Dark Matter
- Music functions like cultural "dark matter," an unseen force that shapes identity and social imaginaries.
- Iman Habibi compares composing to planting seeds that take decades to germinate into lasting societal change.
Persist In Cultural Work Despite Delayed Impact
- Keep creating cultural work even if immediate impact feels impossible; it accumulates across generations.
- Iman advises composers to view pieces as seeds that others will water over decades to build lasting ecosystems.
Freedom To Sing After Exile
- Tahereh trained in Tehran for 10 years but was barred from public solo performance because of bans on women singing.
- She says stepping on stage in Canada for the first time felt like liberation after years of being blocked.