The Nightingale of Iran

Danielle and Galeet speak with Drora and Dalya on this episode of the Reclaiming Identity podcast. They discuss growing up un-Persian, discovering their family’s story, and the personal impact of The Nightingale of Iran podcast.

Danielle and Galeet were recently interviewed on Can We Talk?, the podcast of the Jewish Women’s Archive. We loved our conversation with Nahanni Rous and so we are sharing it with you here today.

Thank you for listening to The Nightingale of Iran! All six episodes are out now. For those of you who have finished listening to our series, today we are sharing something a little different. This is an episode of History Daily, a podcast with new episodes every weekday. Each episode of History Daily focuses on a particular day in history and the human stories behind what happened. We’ve picked an episode about the day in 1979 when the Shah fled the Iranian Revolution. It’s 20 minutes long and we think it adds great context for our show. If you like what you hear, you can find other episodes of History Daily wherever you listen to podcasts.Subscribe to the Nightingale of Iran newsletter here.

Growing up, Danielle didn’t know many families like hers in mainstream Jewish America. These days, there’s growing awareness about the diversity of the Jewish experience.

Houri Dardashti had long dreamed of moving to Israel from Iran. Eventually, she and her radio star husband Younes made the move. But Younes felt like an outsider in Israel. For a decade, he flew back to Iran to do concerts and sing on the radio. But when the Islamic Revolution happened, Younes could never return to Iran, and he was erased from Iranian history.

On his way from Iran to America for college, Farid spent the summer in Israel. A man recognized him from Iranian TV and invited him to sing at an event. A family of visiting Americans heard him sing, and it changed the course of his entire life.

Danielle and Galeet’s father, Farid Dardashti, was born in Tehran in 1942, the oldest of Houri and Younes Dardashti’s five children, all of whom had natural musical talent. Farid’s gorgeous voice kept earning him invitations to perform, but his parents didn’t want him to pursue music. To make them proud, he applied to study architecture in America. While waiting for his visa and acceptance to college, he got offered his own weekly show singing on Iranian TV. He quickly became a teen idol. But when his visa came through, he left the country as planned – and never once considered staying to grow his fame as a singer. This didn’t make any sense to Danielle and Galeet. But that’s because they were missing an important piece of the story.Co-creators / Co-executive producers - Danielle Dardashti and Galeet DardashtiThe Nightingale of Iran - nightingaleofiran.comPresented by The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a publication of 70 Faces MediaHost - Danielle DardashtiWriter / Director / Senior Producer - Danielle DardashtiProducer / Musical Director / Subject Matter Expert - Galeet DardashtiAudio Editors / Sound Designers - Rebecca Seidel & Zachary GoldbergStory Editor - Rider AlsopStory Consultant - Asal EhsanipourComposer of Theme Song - Galeet Dardashti: “Melekh” from her album Monajat, featuring Younes Dardashti (with Shanir Blumenkranz, Max ZT, Zafer Tawil, Philip Mayer)In Episode 3, The Tehran Teen Idol, you heard our conversations with: Farid Dardashti, Yadid Dardashti, Hamid Dardashti, Jina Aziz-Zadeh, Houman Sarshar, Homa Sarshar, Laura Younai, Rachel Nazarian Ehsagpour, Lili Keypour, Haideh Herbert, and Mohsen Mohammadi.Thank you to our sponsors:-Jewish Writers’ Initiative Digital Storytellers Lab / Maimonides Fund-Common Era-Younes and Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation-The Himan Brown Charitable Trust-Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History-UCLA Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music-Be’chol Lashon (fiscal sponsor)Dedication: This is for you Dadders!!! We love you (and Mommy) so much!!!! xoxWe are so grateful for: our extraordinary husbands, Roni Sarig and Mason Weisz, who have contributed in countless ways big and small; Danielle’s amazing kids, Uri Dardashti Sarig and Raquel Dardashti Sarig, who lent their talents in story editing, sound capture, episode cover art design, and more; and Galeet’s kids -Yaniv and Adin–for being such incredible humans.There are so many people we want to thank for their love, guidance, support, and inspiration on this project: Houri & Younes Dardashti, Millie & Louie Heifetz, Michelle Dardashti, Shahnaze Dardashti, Louise Motevassel, David Dardashti, Oren Motevassel, Niloo Dardashti, Schelly Dardashti, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, Dawne Bear Novicoff, Vicki Compter Lefkowitz, Jeni Friedman, Rebecca Friedman, Rebecca Guber, Debbie Kolben, Ami Eden, Caleb Guedes Reed, Sharon Nazarian, Jessamyn Rodriguez, Yonah Schiller, Richard Kay, Mark Kligman, Sarah Lefton, Janine Okmin, Arielle Nissenblatt, Ilana Nevins, Lauren Passell, Habib Partow, Alan Niku, Ruth Abusch-Magder, Julian Voloj, Melina Rosenberg, Lior Sternfeld, Edwin Seroussi, Manucher Bibiyan, Shahla Javdan, Nahid Pirnazar, Tarlan Rabizadeh, Evan Mateen, Hasan Sarbakhshian, Sierra Ulrich, David Shofet, Sarah Benor and Hadas Bram.Intro credits read by: Michelle DardashtiCover art design: Ghulam NabiAssistants: Courtney Cunningham & Jessica DeWeeseMarketing / PR:  TinkDistributed by PRX, the Public Media Exchange

Danielle and Galeet's granfather Younes Dardashti grew up an orphan in Tehran's Jewish ghetto. He was gifted with a gorgeous voice, but had a difficult childhood. He lived with an abusive uncle who forbade him from singing. In his late teens, he left his uncle's house, got a job with the Iranian Railroad and, years later, he married Houri Aziz-Zadeh. In the 1940s, life changed rapidly for the Jews of Iran - a new Shah granted equal rights to Jews, women, and other marginalized groups. Jews could move out of the ghetto into neighborhoods integrated with Muslims. One night, Younes found himself at a party attended by Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri, a famous female Muslim singer. Suddenly, the power went out. And in the dark and quiet, Younes started to sing. This was the moment that everything changed, and he became The Nightingale of Iran.Co-creators / Co-executive producers - Danielle Dardashti and Galeet DardashtiThe Nightingale of Iran - nightingaleofiran.comPresented by The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a publication of 70 Faces MediaHost - Danielle DardashtiWriter / Director / Senior Producer - Danielle DardashtiProducer / Musical Director / Subject Matter Expert - Galeet DardashtiAudio Editors / Sound Designers - Rebecca Seidel and Zachary GoldbergStory Editor - Rider AlsopStory Consultant - Asal EhsanipourComposer of Theme Song - Galeet Dardashti: "Melekh" from her album Monajat, featuring Younes Dardashti (with Shanir Blumenkranz, Max ZT, Zafer Tawil, Philip Mayer)In Episode 2, Singing in The Dark, you heard our conversations with: Farid Dardashti, Habib Partow, Schelly Dardashti, Houman Sarshar, Laura Younai, Rachel Nazarian Ehsagpour, Haideh Herbert. Alan Niku interviewed Manucher Bibiyan.Thank you to our sponsors:-Jewish Writers' Initiative Digital Storytellers Lab / Maimonides Fund-Common Era-Younes and Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation-The Himan Brown Charitable Trust-Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History-UCLA Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music-Be'chol Lashon (fiscal sponsor)Dedication: This is for you Dadders!!! We love you (and Mommy) so much!!!! xoxWe are so grateful for: our extraordinary husbands, Roni Sarig and Mason Weisz, who have contributed in countless ways big and small; Danielle's amazing kids, Uri Dardashti Sarig and Raquel Dardashti Sarig, who lent their talents in story editing, sound capture, episode cover art design, and more; and Galeet's kids -Yaniv and Adin- for being such incredible humans.There are so many people we want to thank for their love, guidance, support, and inspiration on this project: Houri & Younes Dardashti, Millie & Louie Heifetz, Michelle Dardashti, Yadid Dardashti, Shahnaze Dardashti, Hamid Dardashti, Louise Motevassel, David Dardashti, Niloo Dardashti, Schelly Dardashti, Jina Aziz-Zadeh, Dawne Bear Novicoff, Vicki Compter Lefkowitz, Jeni Friedman, Rebecca Friedman, Rebecca Guber, Debbie Kolben, Ami Eden, Caleb Guedes Reed, Sharon Nazarian, Jessamyn Rodriguez, Yonah Schiller, Richard Kay, Mark Klingman, Sarah Lefton, Janine Okmin, Arielle Nissenblatt, Ilana Nevins, Lior Sternfeld, Edwin Seroussi, Mohsen Mohammadi, Hasan Sarbakhshian, Sierra Ulrich, David Shofet, Sarah Benor and Hadas Bram.Intro credits read by: Michelle DardashtiCover art design: Ghulam NabiAssistants: Courtney Cunningham & Jessica DeWeeseMarketing / PR: TinkDistributed by PRX, the Public Media Exchange

Danielle and Galeet grew up in a family band. They sang in 12 languages, but not Persian. This seems odd since their father and grandfather were famous Iranian singers. Then, they make a discovery.

Sisters Danielle Dardashti & Galeet Dardashti - a storyteller and an anthropologist - search for answers about their famous Persian Jewish family. Subscribe now to The Nightingale of Iran!