Arjang Rad

Biography

Arjang Rad is a classical pianist and composer who has been teaching and performing in Los Angeles since 1990. He began his piano studies at the age of eight and studied classical piano for the next eight years, focusing mainly on baroque and classical styles, and especially the works of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. At the age of twenty, he began teaching classical piano, and continues to do so to this day. Arjang has played in numerous recitals, both as soloist and accompanist. He has also played in multiple venues, from the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco (Bam earthquake fundraiser) to the Morgan-Wixson theatre in Santa Monica, Ca. Most recently he has performed twice at the famed Jazz Bakery in Culver City, CA.

Besides his nearly religious fervor for classical music, Arjang has always heavy metal with his influences coming from bands such as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Dream Theater, and most prominently, Iron Maiden. Arjang’s artistic credo is to create music with the intense, energetic appeal of rock, while coupled with the compositional complexity of classical.

Arjang’s secondary passions are writing and reading. He holds an honors BA in Literature, and an MA in creative writing, both from California State University Northridge. He has written several short stories and dozens of poems, and for his masters thesis, he has written a novel about the lives of young Iranian men living in Los Angeles, and is currently making final revisions on the manuscript. He also taught first year writing at Cal State Northridge for two years.

Serious study of literature and its symbols spearheaded his intense study of world mythology, mythological archetypes, and Jungian psychology. In his CD, Circle of Myths, Arjang integrates his love for music, literature and psychology.