Conference Agenda

Avoiding overt political engagement has historically been a means of navigating authoritarianism among Iranian musicians. However, in a context that severely limits political expression, music may inevitably be heard as an act of resistance or complicity, placing musicians in precarious positions. Social media further complicates these dynamics, as users reframe, reshare, and debate musicians' actions, shaping public perceptions and political narratives. On the other hand, live performances abroad create a sonic space for redefining social bonds between musicians and their diaspora audiences—offering either opportunities to rebuild the intimacy that may be diminished amid political conflicts, or presenting challenges arising from public expectations for international advocacy.

A sentimental song by Alireza Talischi went viral during the Women, Life, Freedom movement after being used—seemingly without his involvement—in a commemorative video honoring a protester killed in November 2022. Since then, the song has held a central place in Talischi’s repertoire, without directly mentioning the protester’s name. Talischi took the stage in Tehran in March 2023, becoming one of the first artists to break the months-long silence in Iran’s music scene. Over the next two years, he achieved unprecedented success, touring nationally and internationally, which culminated in his first North American tour in November 2024. Audiences heard these concerts in various ways: as mere musical performances, as subtle resistance, as the exploitation of public sentiments, or as an endorsement of the state’s efforts to normalize the situation after protests.

This paper focuses on Talischi to open up discussions about the relationships between music, authoritarianism, social media, and diaspora. Through ethnographic observations at live performances and online platforms, I listen to exile and social media as related spaces of (dis)connection. I argue that Iranian musicians distance themselves from contentious politics by performing compliance with the regime’s rules while subtly navigating public expectations. Drawing on the work of Nomi Dave, Laudan Nooshin, and Farzaneh Hemmasi, I contend that by playing with the ambiguities of permissibility and accountability, Iranian musicians pursue their career goals abroad while engaging in a dynamic interplay of power, ideology, and pleasure within diasporic contexts.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women’s public performances throughout Iran have faced severe restrictions, with solo female singing banned in mixed-gender settings due to conservative interpretations of Islamic law. As a result, women are only allowed to sing in choirs with male voices or as backing vocalists. Those who do not obey the law face imprisonment. A recent example of this occurred in July 2024, when singer Zara Esmaili was arrested for performing in parks and metro stations in Tehran.

This paper examines the artistic journeys of three Iranian female performers from different generations—one grew up before the 1979 revolution, and the other two came of age after, but all three eventually emigrated to the United States. To understand their musical lives in the diaspora, this study first explores the personal and artistic challenges these women faced as performers in Iran, including restrictions imposed by the government and, in some cases, their families. While such restrictions are often attributed to post-revolutionary policies, my findings reveal that social norms and cultural expectations also constrained women’s artistic freedom before the revolution. Drawing on in-depth interviews and participant observation at musicking gatherings in the Iranian diaspora of St. Louis, this study explores how their post-migration experiences have led to substantial changes in the way they navigate their identities as performers in the diaspora.

This paper builds upon existing scholarship on Iranian female performers (Khaksar and Rahimi 2024; Ahmadian 2023) and extends it by examining post-migration experiences, particularly the role of nostalgia as a catalyst for artistic expression. Building on musicological studies of nostalgia (Garrido and Davidson 2019), I argue that for these performers, music becomes a vehicle for reconnecting with their roots, expressing their culture, and reinforcing community bonds. For the Iranian diaspora, music not only evokes memories but also actively reshapes identity and strengthens cultural connections. By bringing forth these diverse stories, this research enriches our understanding of how Iranian women navigate the complex intersection of artistic expression, societal constraints, and immigration. Ultimately, this study highlights broader themes of cultural continuity and transformation in the Iranian diaspora.

Asked why he refused to flee his country despite increasing pressures, Iran’s leading film-maker, Abbas Kiarostami, replied that if a tree was uprooted to foreign soil, it would no longer bear fruit. Music, perhaps more than any other art form, is seemingly more readily mobile and suited to be ‘taken along’ (Wolfgang Gratzer et al., 2024). But are musicians themselves so suited? What conditions determine the continuity of creativity among migrating musicians? How do the adopted society and diasporic communities shape the survival of those musicians and their creative output?
Focusing on the Iranian immigrant community in Canada, this paper looks at the untold stories of social- and self-silencing of those musicians who left their countries in the hope of retaining - or regaining - their creative voices. I interleave critical reflection on theories of migration and integration with an ethnographic study of Iranian immigrants and refugees in Canada, spanning a diverse range of age-groups and backgrounds. In so doing, I contextualise personal experiences within both ‘host’ social structures and those of ‘home’, as represented by the diaspora. I also investigate practitioners and composers of so-called Western Art Music, thereby addressing a persisting gap in scholarship (by comparison with Iranian popular and traditional music, which are relatively well served).
My study reveals a web of multiple belongings, as Iranian migrant musicians grapple not only with the ‘burden of ethnic representation’ (Kobena Mercer, 2008) but also with the ‘double-burden of representation’ (Michael Paltzer, 2020), that expects them to incorporate their stories of migration within their new artistic environment. Apart from the ‘host’ society, such expectations often come, not least, from the Iranian diasporic communities themselves, making them paradoxically alienating rather than welcoming to newcomers, and resulting in a double marginalisation. I propose a typology of strategies adopted by the subjects of this study, which points to the impact of such ‘burdens’. This typology also addresses the ever-increasing anxieties – on both sides – regarding the cultural and social integration of global migrant and refugee communities.

How does performing khayyami serve as a means of secular social identity formation in contemporary Iran? The establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 leveraged political interpretations of Shi’a Islam as an essential arbiter for social and political control (Nooshin 2009: 3). Therefore, concepts of Iranian-ness have been debated up to the present. As a significant part of the daily lives of Iranians, music has been a “target of constant government scrutiny” (Lucas 2006: 79), as well as a tool for resistance and defiance. Originating in the port city of Bushehr, the regional genre of khayyami has become a locus for ideological debates regarding Iranian-ness. Characterized by its textual repertoire from quatrains by the poet Omar Khayyam, this genre synthesizes Khayyam’s secular ideas with local dance songs. As a deeply participatory musical practice, musicians and audiences collectively shape the performance through singing, clapping, dancing, and creating a holistic atmosphere of social and musical interaction. As such, khayyami expresses embodied joy and resistance in a political context where singing and dancing in public are politically and religiously prohibited. I will argue that through performing khayyami as a collective musical activity people confront the domination of political Islam from their social identity, and reconstruct it through performing Khayyam quatrains, as the secular symbol of the Persian poetry. Using collected fieldwork and digital platforms materials, I explore theories of race, affect, and national consciousness to illuminate the role of khayyami in representing alternative expressions of Iranian belonging, expanding broader understanding of music’s role in political secularization, public space, and affective resistance in society.