composer's notes:

"Mount Qaf" holds significant prominence within Persian mythology, often serving as a pivotal element in various tales and legends. It frequently represents the boundary delineating the mortal realm from the domains of the divine or otherworldly entities. In a piece narrated by the voice of Hana Mesgari and penned by Ehsan Saboohi, the narrative of Mount Qaf takes on a fresh perspective, intertwining with the contemporary political landscape of Iran while retaining its ancient Persian roots.

This piece utilizes SuperCollider 3.13.0, an open-source music language, for the creation of all sounds, and is mixed using Logic Pro. In terms of compositional technique, the focus lies on the exploration of polyrhythms, polytempos, polymeters, and microtonal pitches."

- Ali Balighi


Biography:

Ali Balighi, a composer, sound designer, and sound engineer, was born in Tehran, Iran. He graduated from The University of Art in 2011 with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance. A passion for composition led him to pursue a Master’s degree in Composition at Texas Tech University, where he is currently a student for a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Composition.

A number of research and teaching interests align with Balighi’s academic pursuits, which include music technology, open-source software, contemporary music analysis, and music theory. His teaching experience includes positions as a sound engineer, music recording assistant, composition and music theory teacher, and positions as a cello instructor in various Iranian music institutions.

His publications and awards have made a notable contribution to the field in addition to his academic engagements. Among his poetry collections are My Loneliness Is A Hippo That Loves You and The Forest Was on Fire And The Snail Did Not Know Which Way to Flee. He received a residency and a grant at The Saari Residence in Finland for his electroacoustic ensemble opera, Migration inside. In addition, he won third place in the 5th Reza Korourian Awards 2020 competition for electroacoustic composition. He won second place in the composition competition of Radio Javan (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) 2017 with his composition titled Daramad for Harp and Orchestra.

Balighi’s compositions have been showcased internationally at festivals and conferences, including Sonic Matter, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, Hot Air Music Festival, Tehran Contemporary Music Festival, NoiseFloor UK Contemporary Music, Research On Contemporary Composition Conference, ClarinetFest, Cortona Sessions For New Music, Audiovisual Frontiers Festival, ICSC 2022 6th International Csound Conference, and Tehran International Electronic Music Festival. His works, such as Daramad for Three Sopranos and Fixed Media, Khane Haftom for Santur, and Too Loud A Solitude for Cello and Live Electronics, have been featured in these platforms.

As a composer, Balighi has released contemporary music albums, including Whispers of Papers, Noise vs. Silence vol. 1, and Intolerance. His compositions have been performed by musicians and ensembles such as Sputter Box ensemble, Front Porch ensemble, Zenith Saxophone Quartet, Twenty Fingers Duo, SynthBeats, The ____ Experiment, Michael Bridge, Parker Fritz, Anoush Moazzeni, Kathryn Vetter, Hamed Shaded, Golnaz Khalili, Puneh Zare’i Sefid Dashti, Neda Asadinejad, Shaghayegh Bagheri, Behnoush Sabetghadam, Negin Goodarzi, Zeinab Hajihasani, and Ulrike Brand.

Balighi actively engages with the music community, holding memberships with the Millennium Composers Initiative in the USA and the Iran Music House. His involvement extends to conferences and collaborations, reflecting his commitment to the global exchange of musical ideas.