Oliver Fartach-Naini

When he was nine years old, his German mother separated from his father and left Tehran. She went with him to Germany. Only 30 years later, Oliver first returned to Iran - with the project "Ex Oriente Lux". In Berlin in 1987-91 he studied classical guitar with Christian Bänsch (1956-2016) at the Music School Berlin-Wedding, where he himself had previously studied with Else Goguel (1924-2017) and Bruno Henze (1900-1978), and then graduated from the Hochschule der Künste Berlin under Carlo Domeniconi to lead the "Gitarrenchor Wedding" for 20 years. Oliver then also studied at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin with Laurie Randolph with a degree in music teacher's exams, and subsequently he made with L.Randolph the artist diploma at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" in Leipzig. He then worked as a guitar teacher at the music school Berlin-Wedding. He prefers playing a guitar by Achim-Peter Gropius (born in Berlin, workshop in Reutlingen), who had once learned guitar with E.Goguel and Chr.Bänsch. During their joint studies at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin under L.Randolph, Oliver Fartach-Naini and Lee Song-Ou from Korea came together in 1991 as a guitar duo. They have recorded three CD's so far - the last in 2007 with Deutsche Grammophon with compositions by Franz Schubert, where Richard Yongjae O'Neill (viola) and Jong-Ho Park (guitar) were also involved. Oliver is very versatile, he masters - also on tours through Europe, Asia, Australia and the USA - as a soloist and with various chamber music partners the most different styles. Since 1994 he has performed with Thea Nielsen (flute) both in the classical area (CD "Buenos Aires" 1998) as well as in the field of Persian and Indian music. Th.Nielsen is married to an Iranian, discovered her passion for Persian music through the detour of the language. Through this she has enabled Oliver to come to terms with his Persian roots, for he himself can only vaguely remember the language of his childhood, the smell of starry nights and his grandparents. During her studies in 2001 she met the composer Majid Derakhshani, who composed several pieces for the duo. From these three and Amir Abbas (Iran) emerged the ensemble "Didar", which in 2004 recorded the CD "Live in Berlin". A year earlier, Oliver had already celebrated success with his ensemble "Tango Concertante" (saxophone, violin, guitar, piano, double bass) and recorded the CD "Tangos sin palabras". Edition Margaux has created a series for works composed for him and his ensembles. It is fair to say that Oliver Fartach-Naini effortlessly crosses all boundaries. And so it is hardly surprising that he has been living in Adelaide (Australia) for several years and is a guitar teacher at the "Elder School of Music" at the University of Adelaide. He also organized a festival "1st Adelaide Chamber Music School for Flute, Violin and Guitar" with six lecturers from five countries in 2006 in Downunder.

Oliver Fartach-Naini (born 1964) is a German guitarist living in Australia where he teaches at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide. He is regularly involved in organising festivals and performing classical guitar for the public.