President    Kamran Hekmati Vice Presidents    Massoud Benhuri    Rebeccca Sassouni    Jennifer Yousefzadeh Treasurer    Shadi Zargari Administrator    Janet Eshaghoff Board of Directors    Eleanor Askari    Tania Eshaghoff    Jalil Harouni    Jacqueline Harounian    Raymond Iryami    Anwar Koukou* * deceased

The Persian Culture Committee's goal is to raise awareness of Persian art, music, literature, crafts, foods, and dance, as well as other aspects of Persian tradition and heritage within the Persian community and the local community at large. We promote these traditions by coordinating free programming in the form of lectures, seminars, performances, and other related or appropriate activities. We welcome you to attend our programs and events, and invite you to check this site frequently to obtain the most current information about our activities. If you would like to get involved, or if you have suggestions for future programming, please send us an email. UPCOMING EVENT: Sunday, February 10, 2008 3:00 PM Great Neck Library 159 Bayview Avenue Host Speaker: Houra Yavari Moderator: Dr. Ahron Friedberg A Reading and Dialogue in Celebration of Rumi (Molavi) Houra Yavari is Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University, and the Consulting Editor on Modern Persian Fiction to the Encyclopaedia Iranica. She has published extensively on topics in psychoanalysis and Persian literature, including Psychoanalysis and Literature in Iran: Two Texts, Two Selves, Two Worlds (Tehran, 1995) and Living in the Mirror: A Literary Perspective (Tehran, 2005). Her articles include: “The 'Third Ear' of the Analyst”, Critique, Journal of Critical Studies of the Middle East, Fall 1995; “Modern Persian Fiction: History and Development”, in Encyclopædia Iranica (1999), “Ideal Kingship & Failed Monarchs: Speech-Act Theory and Medieval Persian Historiography”, Iranshenasi, Spring 2001; “The Autobiographies of Jalal-e Al-e Ahmad: Who is Schizophrenic, the Culture or the Self?, Goft-e Goo (Spring 2002): “Present in the Past, or the Story of a Dream”, Sadeq Hedayat: His Work and His Wonderous World (2007) Dr. Ahron Friedberg is a psychoanalytically trained psychiatrist in private practice. He is the Assistant Director of the Division of Psychotherapy at Mount Sinai Medical Center and a Contributing Editor of International Psychoanalysis. He is the co-author of the critically acclaimed Between Us: A Father and Son Speak and a published poet. Dr. Friedberg has appeared as a cultural expert on CNN and Fox 5 as well been cited in the Wall Street Journal. SELECTED RECENT EVENTS: Sunday, December 16, 2007 3:00 PM Saddle Rock School Auditorium Traditional Musical Celebration of Yalda Featuring the SABA Musical Ensemble Many Persian festivals celebrate Yalda. The festivals "Shab-e Yalda" and "Shab-e Cheleh" have become synonymous and the two are used interchangeably. They are social occasions, when family and friends get together for fun and merriment. Different kinds of dried fruits, nuts, seeds, and fresh winter fruits are consumed. The Iranian Jews, who are amongst the oldest inhabitants of the country, in addition to "Shab-e Cheleh," also celebrate the festival of "Illanout" (tree festival) at around the same time. Their celebration of Illanout is very similar to the Shab-e Cheleh celebration. The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The sun appears at its lowest point in the sky, and its noontime elevation appears to be the same for several days before and after the solstice. Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter. Sunday, August 19, 2007 8:00 PM Steppingstone Waterside Theatre Faramarz Assef in concert Admission to this event is free, but requires a Great Neck Park District Card. Park Cards are provided free to residents of the Great Neck Park District. If you do not have a valid Park Card, you can obtain one, free, at Great Neck House, 14 Arrandale Ave. Information on how to apply can be found here: http://greatneckparks.org /great_neck_park_card.htm Please note that each person who holds a Park Card can bring 2 guests. (Guests do not need to have Park Cards, but must arrive with a someone who has one.) The concert begins at 8 p.m. but please arrive early to get a good seat on the lawn. Our previous summer concerts have attracted thousands. Food from Carltun on the Bay (Lederman Catering) will be available for purchase throughout the evening. For those of you who want to learn more about Faramarz Assef, you can visit his web site, www.assefmusic.com NO CHARGE -- Guests welcome with Great Neck Park District Card. SPONSORED BY: THE GREAT NECK PARK DISTRICT, PERSIAN CULTURE COMMITTEE, CARLTUN ON THE BAY CATERING (LEDERMAN CATERING), SEPHARADIC HERITAGE ALLIANCE INC. (SHAI), NORTH BAY CADILLAC HUMMER / JAGUAR OF GREAT NECK / MIRACLE MILE HARLEY-DAVIDSON Saturday, May 19, 2007 8:30 PM Great Neck North Middle School 77 Polo Road Great Neck, NY 11023 TANIA Eshaghoff in Concert with Chamber Orchestra Ensemble Ali Bello, violin • Skye Steele, violin • Meg Okura, violin • Christopher Hoffman, cello • John Hadfield, percussion • Rami Al Asser, hand percussion With Edward Smaldone, musical director, electric bass Sunday, March 25, 1:00 pm Great Neck Library Family/Children Event Make Your Own HaftSeen. Sunday, March 25, 3:00 pm The Saddle Rock School 10 Hawthorne Lane No Rooz Concert Featuring Monika Jalili (voice) and musical ensemble. Saturday, March 24 Great Neck Library Persian Art Exhibit featuring the work of M.K. Sadigh Exhibit opens Saturday, March 24, with an artist reception from 7:30 to 9:30 pm. The reception will be preceded by a slide lecture examining the development of the Persian identity through history as illustrated in its art. Presentation begins at 6:30 pm. The exhibit will continue through April. Sunday, December 17, 2006 Saddle Rock School 2:30 pm   Traditional Musical Celebration of Yalda (the longest night of the year), featuring SABA Persian Musical Ensemble The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The sun appears at its lowest point in the sky, and its noontime elevation appears to be the same for sevaral days before and after the solstice. Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter.   The Persian festivals "Shab-e Yalda" and "Shab-e Cheleh" have become synonymous and the two are used interchangeably. They are social occasions, when family and friends get together for fun and merriment. Different kinds of dried fruits, nuts seeds and fresh winter fruits are consumed. Sunday, November 19, 2006 Great Neck Library   Children's Event: Kurdish Folk Dance Workshop, presented by Amir Vahab and Yvette Gogasian   Dance for everyone, children and parents. Come and learn joyful (Kurdish) Folk dances. Ancient folk steps that traveled for 5,000 years from our forefathers to us! Easy steps will be demonstrated by Amir Vahab so that all can participate.     This event is made possible, in part, with funds from the New York State Coucncil on the Arts' Decentralization Program, administered by the Long Island Arts Council at Freeport. Sunday, August 27, 2006 Steppingstone Park Our annual summer concert series continues with performance by Shahrum K. Lawn seating throughout Steppingstone park, arrive early to obtain a better seat. Click here for a listing of his songs Sunday, August 6 Great Neck House "Taste of Shiraz" The first of our series of events spotlighting cities in Iran. Come view a slide show and enjoy music traditional to Shiraz. Sunday, March 26, 2006 Children's No Rooz Event Children from our community perform in and benefit from presentations of Persian fairytales and legends. Sunday, March 19, 2006 4th Annual No Rooz Concert Join us to enjoy some authentic Persian music, and learn about the Persian New Year, No Rooz. No Rooz falls on the spring equinox, so that the new year begins with the new season, of rebirth and natural growth. December 18, 2005 4th Annual Yalda Program Musical Concert in celebration of Shab-e Yalda, the longest night of the year (winter solstice). Our concert featured Amir Vahab, composer/vocalist and the Sooroosh Ensamble performing a program of Persian traditional and folk music. November 29, 2005 Book discussion Afschineh Latifi, author of Even After All This Time: A Story of Love, Revolution, and Leaving Iran participated in a discussion with mothers and daughters from Great Neck's Persian Community and others in the audience. Her book details her childhood emigration from Iran, catalyzed by her father's execution and her mother's desire to keep her children safe. September 18, 2005 Mehregan Events The Persian calendar marks a holiday for the start of each season of the year. Mehregan is the Persian harvest festival.     • Poetry of Sohrab Sepehri - Our Mehregan event spotlights the work of Sohrab Sepehri, with music performed by Mr. Shahrok Vafa and poetry recited by Mr. Parviz Nezami.     • Children's Storytime and Crafts - Children ages 5-11 are invited to join us in the Multi-Purpose room of the library to hear stories and prepare crafts related to the Mehregan holiday. August 27, 2005 Summer Concert Featuring Mansour Over 5,000 people attended this year's outdoor concert in Steppingstone Park, featuring Mansour. Were you there? Hear a few of Mansour's hit songs: -Bezan Berim-       -Divooneh-       -Azize Delami-

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