A Life Composed in Harmony

Pejman grew up in southern, absorbing the region’s rhythms and sounds from childhood. In high school, he studied violin (with Heshmat Sanjari) and music theory under Hossein Nassehi. He earned a scholarship to study composition at the Music Academy in Vienna. There, he studied under figures like Thomas Christian David, Alfred Uhl, Hanns Jelinek, and Friedrich Cerha. Around 1976 he moved to New York.

He enrolled in a doctorate program (Doctorate of Music) at Columbia University, studying with composers including Buelant Arel, Vladimir Ussachevsky, and Jack Beeson. Later, in 1984, he settled in Los Angeles, where he continued composing for film, orchestra, choir, and also for pop/jazz ensembles. He also scored many films by directors like Bahman Farmanara, Majid Majidi, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Mohsen Makhmalbaf.

September 28, 2025 | 1:31 am