Iranian composer and musician, Hassan Yousef Zamani, passed away in Toronto. I knew about his illness and how severe his condition had become ( http://mariasabaye.blogspot.com/2009/07/commemorat… ), and I kept hoping that it would improve.
As his student, I valued his contributions and tried to bring them to attention as often as I could. It is hard to believe that he is no longer with us. May his soul rest in peace.
Here is something I wrote about him in 2006:
With over half a century of great contributions in composition, conducting, teaching, and playing clarinet and violin, Hassan Yousef Zamani has established himself as an undisputed Master of Persian Music. He has composed over a hundred pieces of music performed by singers such as Shajarian, Nazeri, Pouran, and Sima Bina in Iran. For many years, he conducted the Iranian National Radio and Television Grand Orchestra and the Iranian Traditional Music Orchestra. A native of Sanandaj, Yousef Zamani formed the Kurdish Orchestra whose performances of about thirty pieces of his compositions of Kurdish music were amongst the most popular programs aired in bordering countries of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.
