“Songs of Freedom” : Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Performing classical persian music is liberating for group of Iranian women
Excerpt :
As a Persian classical musician and singer, Sepideh Raissadat has always been free to pursue her love of music. But as a female living in Iran, she was prohibited from sharing it with others.
Raissadat was born in Tehran in 1980, just one year after the Islamic Revolution limited women’s rights, turning them into second-class citizens. In a country where women are banned from performing in public, singing is not just an art form, it’s a call for freedom.
“Women couldn’t sing solos,” said Raissadat, although Iran has slowly loosened its restrictions over time. “Soon, they said women could sing in groups like a choir, then in groups of two or three and eventually they said women could sing duets with a man.”
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09239/993509-388.stm#ixzz0z9cw3CDE