With a diverse repertoire ranging from Bach to Behzad Ranjbaran, pianist Tara Kamangar's recent performances have included solo recitals in London's Wathen Hall and Leighton House Museum, and in the Wattis Room of San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall. Her concerts have been sponsored by such organizations as the Harvard Club of the United Kingdom, the Iran Heritage Foundation, Magic of Persia, Asia House, and the San Francisco Symphony League, covered in the international editions of Iran's leading newspapers Kayhan and Ettela'at, and broadcast over the BBC Persian service and Voice of America Television and Radio. Tara has performed and premiered works by the Iranian composers Aminollah Hossein, Loris Tjeknavorian, Hormoz Farhat, and Behzad Ranjbaran. Most recently, Tara was asked by the famed music producer, David Foster, to perform at a fundraiser at the home of Barbra Streisand, in a line-up that included pop-classical singer Josh Groban, Grammy-winning saxophonist Kenny G, and Grammy- and Academy Award-winning rock singer Melissa Etheridge.

Tara's upcoming performances for 2007-08 include solo recitals in London's Cadogan Hall and David Josefowitz Recital Hall and Washington DC's National Gallery of Art, and a performance at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards in London, patroned by Cherie Blair (for which she is a finalist in the "Arts and Culture" category). She will perform Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and give the U.S. premiere of Aminollah Hossein's Second Piano Concerto, as a soloist with the Oakland Symphony, under the baton of Maestro Michael Morgan. She has also been invited by Maestro Loris Tjeknavorian (conductor of the Armenian Philharmonic for a decade) to perform with his orchestra in Tehran. Tara was recently named an Ambassador for the Women of Achievement program by Princess Zahra Aga Khan.


A native of California, Tara placed first in several piano competitions while still in high school, received the Paderewski Medal from the National Piano Guild, and participated in the TCU/ Van Cliburn, Aspen, Oberlin, and San Francisco International Piano Festivals. She studied privately with such professors as Gabriel Chodos, Jose Feghali, Robert Shannon, and Mikhail Vossressensky, and performed in masterclasses with John Perry, John Owings, Ian Hobson, Peter Frankl, Edna Golandsky, and Emilio del Rosario, to name a few. During this time, Tara also performed as a first violinist with the Merced Symphony Orchestra and the California All-State Orchestra, and performed Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with two symphony orchestras.

 

After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class, Tara attended Harvard University, receiving a BA with Honours in Anthropology, with a focus on Middle Eastern Music. While at Harvard, she continued her piano studies with Victor Rosenbaum, Professor of Piano at the New England Conservatory, and served as President of both the 300+-member Piano Society and the Persian Society. She performed in solo and chamber recitals across campus, broadcast over WHRB 95.3FM and Voice of America's Persian language service, and formed a piano-violin duo with the Concertmistress of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. Tara also performed throughout Boston as the pianist and violinist for the Iranian musical group "Hafez Ensemble.

Tara is currently completing postgraduate studies in piano performance at London's Royal Academy of Music with Patsy Toh (Premier Prix, Paris Conservatory), as a recipient of the Kathleen Bayfield scholarship. Her other interests include film scoring and song writing.

 
 

 

EDUCATION

 

2005-2006         Royal Academy of Music; London, United Kingdom.

Postgraduate studies in Piano Performance. Recipient of the Kathleen Bayfield Scholarship.

2000-2004         Harvard University; Cambridge, Massachusetts.

A.B. with Honors in Social Anthropology received in June 2004. Dean’s List. Harvard College Scholarship. President, Harvard Piano Society and Harvard Persian Society.

1996-2000         Merced High School; Merced, California.

Ranked 1st of 490 students. SAT: Verbal 800, Math 760. AP Scholar with Distinction. Voted “Most Likely to Succeed.” Ranked second on Varsity Tennis Team. Highest scorer, Academic Decathlon.

 

APPLIED/PRIVATE STUDY

 

2005-2006         Postgraduate studies in Piano Performance with Professor Patsy Toh at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

2000-2004         Private piano studies with Victor Rosenbaum, Professor of Piano at the Mannes College of Music and the New England Conservatory. At Harvard: Chamber Music courses with Robert Levin and Robert Merfeld. Music Theory course with John Stewart. Composition course with Jeffrey Nichols. Ethnomusicology courses with Kay Kaufman Shelemay and Richard Wolf. 

1996-2000         Private piano studies with John Hillebrandt, Professor of Piano at California State University, Stanislaus

 

AWARDS/ PERFORMANCES

 

2006                 Performed solo recital May 23rd in the Leighton House Museum, London, sponsored by the Harvard Club of the United Kingdom and the Iran Heritage Foundation, and broadcast over Voice of America Television and Radio

2006                 Performed solo recital April 23rd in Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, sponsored by the San Francisco Symphony League; proceeds benefited the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra

2005                 Invited to perform Mozart’s Concerto No. 23 by conductor Loris Tjeknavorian, with his orchestra in Tehran and Yerevan, in December

2005                 Performed solo piano recital at London’s Wathen Hall; excerpts broadcast over the BBC Persian Service; Named “Young Iranian Musician of the Year” by UK-based charity “Magic of Persia”

2002-2004         Performed solo piano recitals broadcast live over WHRB 95.3FM in February and September ’02; broadcast over Voice of America’s Persian Language Service in May ‘04

2002                 Performed Frank’s Sonata in A Major for Piano and Violin with violinist Anna Dickerman ‘05, Concertmistress of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchesta, in Harvard’s Paine Hall

2000                 Accepted to the Bachelor’s programs in Piano Performance at the Eastman School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, Shepherd School of Music, and the New England Conservatory.

1999                 Performed Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with the Merced Symphony Orchestra and the Modesto Youth Symphony Orchestra.

1999                 Performed solo piano recital at California State University, Stanislaus, as substitute for faculty artist

1996-1999         First Place: Merced Symphony Concerto Competition, Phillip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Competition, Sylvia Ghiglieri Piano Competition for Northern California, Santa Clara Piano Festival Competition; Levin Award: “Most Promising Musician”: Fresno Youth Auditions; Paderewski Medal for ten consecutive Superior-Plus Ratings in the National Piano Guild Auditions; Master Classes with John Perry and John O’Conor.

 

SUMMER PROGRAMS

 

2004                 Arabic Music Retreat in Mount Holyoke, MA. Violin studies with Simon Shaheen.

2001                 San Francisco International Piano Festival. Studies with Mack McCray.

1998-2000         TCU/Cliburn International Piano Institute in Fort Worth, Texas. Studies with Mikhail   Vossressensky, Master Classes with Tamas Ungar, Jose Feghali, John Owings, Emilio del Rosario, Peter Frankl, and Ian Hobson.

1999                 Oberlin International Piano Festival in Oberlin, Ohio. Studies with Peter Takacs, Robert Shannon, and Monique Duphil. Master Class with Edna Golandsky.

1999                 Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado. Studies with Gabriel Chodos.

 

OTHER

 

2003-2004         Hafez Ensemble: Pianist and Violinist for the Boston-based Persian musical group.

1986-2000         First Violinist: Merced Symphony Orchestra, Merced POPS Orchestra, California CODA Honors Orchestra, California All-State Orchestra. Concertmistress: Merced Union High School District Orchestra.