June 17, 2025
Canadian Art Song Project is excited to announce the commissioning of a song cycle by composer Pouya Hamidi. I Will Greet the Sun Again explores themes of night, family, and intimate love, tracing a journey from darkness to light through the poetry of four women writers from Iran and the Iranian diaspora. The work will be premiered on August 1st as part of the Toronto Summer Music Festival by soprano Elizabeth Polese and pianist Steven Philcox. (Purchase the score here)
Composer Pouya Hamidi
Musically, the composition draws from Hamidi’s recent studies in Iranian traditional music, particularly its melodic and rhythmic characteristics. Additional influences include the vocal works of Olivier Messiaen, György Ligeti, and Maurice Ravel.
The selection of poetry reflects a deliberate commitment to amplifying the voices of Iranian women writers, whose contributions have often been underrepresented in the literary canon. At a time when Iranian women continue to demonstrate extraordinary courage in their struggle for fundamental rights and freedoms, this cycle serves as both an artistic tribute to their enduring strength and a profound reminder of the power of their voices to transcend borders and speak to universal human experiences of hope, love, and resilience.
About the poets:
Sareh Farmand was born in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution and later moved to Vancouver, BC. Her debut poetry collection, Pistachios in My Pocket (2022), narrates her family’s escape from Iran and their experiences as early Iranian immigrants to Canada. The work was longlisted for the Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry. Farmand holds degrees in International Relations and Education from the University of British Columbia and is a graduate of Simon Fraser University’s The Writing Studio. She is currently working on her second book with At Bay Press.
Born in Hamadan, Iran, Mehri Yalfani pursued electrical engineering at Tehran University and worked as an engineer for two decades as one of the first woman engineers in Iran. She emigrated to France in 1985 and to Canada in 1987, where she dedicated herself to writing. Yalfani has authored several works in Persian and English, including the novel Afsaneh’s Moon (2002), which explores themes of love and revolution. Her stories have been featured in various anthologies, and her work is studied in academic settings.
Forugh Farrokhzad (1935–1967) was a pioneering Iranian poet and filmmaker known for her bold and modernist approach to Persian poetry. Her work challenged societal norms and explored themes of female independence, love, and existential reflection. Farrokhzad’s poetry remains influential in Iranian literature and continues to inspire readers and artists worldwide.
Sholeh Wolpé is an Iranian-born poet, playwright, and literary translator. Her literary work includes 11 books of poetry, anthologies, and translations, as well as several plays, an oratorio, song lyrics, and an original screenplay. Wolpé’s memoir in verse, Abacus of Loss (2022), was hailed by Ilya Kaminsky as a book “that created its own genre—a thrill of lyric combined with the narrative spell.” She has collaborated with international composers and musicians and is the recipient of several awards, including the PEN/Heim Translation Grant. Wolpé is currently a writer-in-residence at the University of California, Irvine.
Poetry reference:
Khaleh Parvin (Mamaly) – From ‘Pistachios in My Pocket’ by Sareh Farmand. Published by At Bay Press. Used with per-mission.
The Shadows – From ‘Parastoo: Stories and Poems’ by Mehri Yalfani. Used with permission.
The Wind Will Blow Us Away and I Will Greet the Sun Again – From Poems from ‘Sin – Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad’, translated by poet Sholeh Wolpé
This commission was graciously funded
by the Toronto Arts Council and a generous
donation from Rivanne Sandler.