The Seemorgh Choral Ensemble
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To revitalize a century-old musical (choral and operatic) heritage, the Persian Chorus was founded in 2003 in Berkeley, California by its director, Artin Der Minassians. Its preliminary performances at UC Berkeley (2004) and Stanford University (2005) were warmly welcomed by the audience, which culminated in a sold-out concert in April 2005 on the prestigious stage of the Florence Gould Theater located at the heart of the San Francisco Palace of the Legion of Honor. Being the first of its kind in the United States, this ensemble not only takes the responsibility of presenting all-Iranian choral gems to the Persian community but also proudly shares this rich heritage with non-Iranians both as performers and as audience.
To achieve the highest level of choral performance, the director turned to professional musicians, joining Bay Area Classical Harmonies (BACH), an organization known to present and promote a wide range of musical traditions. Out of this collaboration the Seemorgh Choral Ensemble was formed in 2006 with 20 members. Seemorgh was invited by San Francisco City Hall to take part in the city’s 2007 celebration of Persian New Year (Norooz). This event was hosted by Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi. The Seemorgh Choral Ensemble is envisioned to become the premier vocal ensemble specializing in Iranian opera and choral music.
Seemorgh (also Simorgh, Simurgh) is a legendary bird in Persian literature. Literally translated “Thirty-Birds,” it has been cleverly used by Fareed Eddeen Attaar (1142–1220), one of the greatest Persian Sufi mystic poets, in his Mantegh Attayr, The Conference of the Birds, to explain how the group effort of thirty birds led them to a superior destiny, becoming a Seemorgh. Attar’s ingenious interpretation, the symbolic association of birds with beautiful singing, and the obvious collaborative nature of a chorus, among others, were the motivations for choosing “Seemorgh” as the name for this ensemble.