Nader Mashayekhi
Nader Mashayekhi (Tehran, Iran, November 26, 1958) is an Iranian composer and conductor.
During the 1990s he was music director of an Austrian new music ensemble, "Wien 2001", where he performed several classical works of Zappa.
From 2006 until his deposition by the Iranian Ministry of Culture in 2007, Mashayekhi was the conductor of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra. His efforts to modernize the orchestra and his struggles with the Iranian government sparked the interest of Dutch documentary film maker Frank Scheffer. Scheffer made a documentary about his life in 2009: "To Be And Not To Be: The Tehran Symphony Orchestra". In the documentary Mashayekhi tries to bring Western music to the Iranian public by conducting works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Gustav Mahler and Zappa, even though the Iranian government strictly forbids this.
Mashayekhi was also interviewed in Scheffer's documentary Frank Zappa - Pioneer Of Future Music, parts 1 & 2 (2007). Near the end of the second part he talks about his admiration for Zappa. The Tehran Symphony Orchestra can then be seen performing Zappa's works, like The Dog Breath Variations and Uncle Meat: Main Title Theme. Scheffer thought it was great that an Iranian orchestra performs Zappa's music.
