For students curious about the issues other cultures face, our very own Dr. Roya Farzaneh will host an event titled “Voices Unveiled: Iranian Women in Classical Music.” The event has been put together by the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies department, headed by Dr. Stacey L. Williams.
When discussing the event Dr. Farzaneh is holding, Dr. Williams stated that it is a “presentation [that] highlights the remarkable resilience of Iranian women pursuing musical careers” and that Dr. Farzaneh’s presentation “uncovers the legal, cultural, and social barriers that restrict women’s musical expression, while highlighting their courage and ongoing resistance.”
Dr. Williams described Farzaneh as having a “versatile career as a musician and educator, serving as principal flutist with the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra, second flute for the Symphony of the Mountains, acting second flute/piccolo of the Brevard Philharmonic, and adjunct professor of flute at East Tennessee State University.”
Farzaneh is not just an experienced educator and performer; she has also won multiple awards for her past performances, bringing her to where she is now. Dr. Williams listed that she was a “prize winner or finalist in numerous renowned solo flute competitions, including the Raleigh Area Flute Society, the Texas Flute Society’s Myrna Brown Artist Competition, the Central Ohio Flute Association, the South Carolina Flute Society, the Flute Society of Kentucky and the National Flute Association”.
Williams stated that the event is part of a bigger “series of lectures intended to highlight the important work being done by women and those across the spectrum of gender.” These lectures are held on the first Wednesday of each month during the school year from 12-1 P.M. in the East Tennessee Room. Although this is the last event of this kind happening for this year, Dr. Williams reminded us that the department “invite[s] the university community to participate in our future lectures when we return in the fall of 2025” with these lectures.
To find out more information concerning this event or the future lectures in this series, feel free to contact Dr. Stacey L. Williams personally at williasl@mail.etsu.edu.
