ABSTRACT
Touraj Kiaras was born in 1938, and his biography as an expert singer of Persian classical music during the second half of the twentieth century is in many ways exemplary. In following the narrative of artistic development, it is worth mentioning that in 1976–77 the Ministry organized an extensive series of master classes with the eminent veteran Davami, and chose the by well-established Touraj Kiaras to be one of the select participants. The course of study Touraj Kiaras undertook with him implied a process of concentration as much as addition, a move from an unschooled and instinctive absorption of a variety of styles to detailed study of what by the 1940s had been accepted unquestioningly as the core of the traditional vocal repertoire. The dynamics of westernization within the domain of Persian music would most obviously be played out, and Touraj Kiaras's public career would find its natural habitat.
