Western professor Mehrdad Gholami wins a state grant for his next album
This year's Grants for Artist Projects (GAP) invested $97,500 in 65 Washington State artists. Among them is a gem at Western: Assistant Professor of Flute and Woodwinds Area Coordinator, Mehrdad Gholami.
The GAP program this year received more applications than any grant from the Artist Trust organization in the last 7 years, outside of the COVID-19 Relief Fund. The funding supports literary, media, performance, or visual projects that artists are working on by paying for expenses such as equipment, space rental, travel and professional development. Mehrdad is putting this funding toward his next album. His latest album, This Vast Sky, was published earlier this year in July. It is made up of a vast body of flute repertoire by Iranian composers.
Mehrdad Gholami trained at the University of Tehran as a recipient of a presidential award and Iran's National Elites Foundation scholarship. In his time there, he won numerous national and international competitions, and was a finalist in Texas Flute Society's Myrna Brown Young Artist Competition. He has played in orchestras and symphonies, served in fellowships, and now collaborates with composers to record and premiere new sounds for flute with various ensembles. He also enjoys mentoring the next generation of flutists here at Western.
Mehrdad’s efforts in presenting, performing and publishing new Iranian music has led to a growth of compositions by Iranian composers and similar projects inspired by his “Iran Flute Project”.
