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The Musical Legacy of Iranian Jews

- Pacific Time Virtual Program

Course Summary for Search and Accessibility

This course, The Musical Legacy of Iranian Jews, is an educational program offered by New Lehrhaus. It is scheduled to begin on 7/7/2026 and conclude on 7/14/2026. The sessions are held weekly on Tuesdays from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm Pacific Time.

The total registration fee is $36.00. The course is conducted Online via Zoom and focuses on the musical heritage of Iranian Jews, Persian Jewish liturgical traditions and piyyutim, Persian classical music and the dastgah modal system, the Jewish communities of Esfahan, Shiraz, and Tehran, Iranian Jewish music on the Silk Road, and the Iranian Jewish diaspora in Los Angeles and Tel Aviv.

A free companion resource, a listening guide with three recordings of Persian Jewish music annotated by instructor Alan Niku, is available at newlehrhaus.org/iranian-jewish-music-listening-guide.

What does the music of Iran's ancient Jewish community reveal about a tradition shaped by more than two and a half millennia on the Silk Road? In this two-session program, Alan Niku explores the musical heritage of Iranian Jews: from the liturgical chants and piyyutim of Persian synagogues to the secular songs and instrumental traditions that flourished in cities like Esfahan, Shiraz, and Tehran. We'll trace how Persian classical music, including the modal system known as dastgah, intertwined with Jewish religious practice over centuries, and how Iranian Jewish music has continued to evolve in diaspora communities from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv. Along the way, we'll listen to recordings of master vocalists, encounter Persian Jewish folk songs, and consider how one of the world's oldest Jewish communities has carried its musical identity forward into the present.

Free Listening Guide
Want to sample a little Iranian Jewish music before class begins? Start with our free listening guide, where Alan introduces four recordings, from a Persian wedding song to a beloved classic by the Neydavoud brothers.

Who this is for:
  • Listeners curious about Mizrahi musical traditions beyond the more familiar Sephardic and Ashkenazi repertoires.
  • Iranian Jews seeking deeper engagement with their musical heritage.
  • Students of Persian culture interested in how Jewish religious practice and Persian classical music shaped one another.
  • Anyone drawn to where liturgy, ethnomusicology, and history meet along the Silk Road.

What you'll leave with:
  • A working familiarity with dastgah, the modal system at the heart of Persian classical music, and its role in Jewish liturgical and secular song.
  • Knowledge of the distinct musical traditions of Esfahan, Shiraz, and Tehran, and how they migrated to Los Angeles and Tel Aviv.
  • An ear trained on recordings of master vocalists and the conventions of Persian Jewish folk repertoire.
  • A clearer sense of how one of the world's oldest Jewish communities has sustained its musical identity across millennia and migration.

Two Tuesdays: July 7 & 14, 7–8:30pm Pacific

The Musical Legacy of Iranian Jews
Image adapted from a Qājār portrait of the tār player ʿArus ben Shelemo (Iran, c. 1840)

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- Pacific Time

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