A unique concert featuring piano and Persian tar will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 7, in Moore Hall Auditorium at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

UNCP business professor Dr. Mahour Mellat Parast will play with pianist Dr. Ken Hoppmann from Lincoln, NE. The concert will feature solo performances by both musicians and a duet.

“Worlds Together” is the concert title. Drs. Hoppmann and Parast have collaborated for numerous concerts.

Dr. Parast said the tar is the most popular instrument in his native Iran.

“I would say the tar is to Iran what the piano is to the West,” said the business management professor. “For me, music is more than a hobby.

“I started with piano and switched because I like to touch the strings,” Dr. Parast continued. It is considered as the most difficult instrument to learn.”

When asked what he will play, Dr. Parast said he will improvise.

“I have no idea what I will play until I begin,” he said. “When we play together, there is a more structure.”

Persian music is performed within 12 different musical modes or Dastgah. A Dastgah is a melody type on the basis of which a performer can produce improvised pieces.

In the first part of the concert, Dr. Hoppmann will play “32 Variations on an Original Theme in C minor” by Beethoven, and Dr. Parast will play an improvisation in Esfahan, Abo-ata and Dashti. After an intermission, the duet features pieces in Dastgah Mahour (Introduction) and Dastgah Chahargah (Haft-Darbi).

Dr. Mahour Mellat Parast was born in Iran and grew up in a music loving family. His father was a musician, composer and a player of tar, setar, piano and Turkish tar. His grandfather was a player of the Turkish tar as well.

Dr. Parast began playing the tar at 14, under the supervision of his father, Abdollah Mellat Parast. In 1989, he was awarded the first rank tar player in the Province of Gilan, Iran. He joined the Oshagh musical group at the age of 16 as their youngest player and took part in many concerts with that group throughout Iran.

His commitment to music had to be balanced with the pursuit of a career in industrial engineering. In 2001, he was admitted to University of Nebraska-Lincoln to pursue his Ph.D. Since coming to the U.S., he has performed more than 50 concerts in Nebraska, California, Iowa, Kansas, Alaska, South Dakota, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois.

Dr. Parast has worked with Dr. Hoppmann since 2002. They have developed unique pieces for the tar and the piano, and they received a grant from the Nebraska Arts Council for a series of performances in Lincoln Public Schools.

“We documented how the perception of students changes towards the Middle East after listening to the music,” Dr. Parast said.

At UNCP, Dr. Parast teaches courses in operations management, business statistics and supply chain theory.

Dr. Ken Hoppmann holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as well as a Doctor of Music degree from the American Conservatory of Music. He maintains an active schedule as a performer and teacher.

Dr. Hoppmann has performed with the Ft. Collins Symphony Orchestra, Casper Symphony Orchestra, the University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra and the Northern Nevada Chamber Orchestra, as well as presenting numerous recitals and concerts with the Wyoming Council on the Artists in Education program and the University of Wyoming cultural outreach program.

Dr. Hoppmann served on the faculties of Doane College, Concordia University, Southeast Community College and Union College. He teaches piano, piano pedagogy, music history, music theory and world music. He is a founding member of the popular piano quartet PianoFOURte, which is included in the Nebraska Arts Council’s touring roster and performs regularly throughout the country.

Admission is free and ‘Worlds Together,’ a concert of Persian and Western music, is open to the campus community and the public. The concert is supported by the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs. For more information, contact Moore Hall at 910-521-6230.