Musician who had nowhere to practise wows at festival

A talented young musician who arrived in Suffolk three years ago after fleeing Iran has played his own composition about the troubles in his home country to audiences at Snape Maltings concert venue.

When Mohammed Pourtajrishi first arrived in the county, he was living in small, temporary accommodation and had nowhere to practise his music.

However, after gaining a place on the prestigious Advanced Young Musicians programme at Snape Maltings, he recently delighted audiences with his masterpiece, called 40 Days.

Laura Herbé-George, of charity Britten Pears Arts, which operates the venue, said: "This is exactly the kind of outcome we all wished for Mohammed when he entered our music programme".

When he first arrived in the UK, Pourtajrishi was determined not to let his challenging circumstances stand in the way of his ambitions.

A local social media appeal led to soul singer Ashton Jones buying him an electric piano, which meant practising was possible again.

Jones said: "I was so happy to hear about Mohammed's achievements since arriving in the UK.

"His success is entirely down to his own talent, hard work and dedication, and knowing that the piano played a small part in his journey is genuinely moving."

In 2023, Pourtajrishi's talent won him a place on the Advanced Young Musicians (formerly Aldeburgh Young Musicians) Britten Pears Arts' musical progression programme for talented young musicians from Suffolk and East Anglia.

Being based at Snape Maltings – the iconic home of Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears and the Aldeburgh Festival - the musician, who had learned to play the piano as a young boy in Iran, was able to develop his skills and explore new artistic possibilities.

Pourtajrishi said that back home, no one saw his talents as extra special, but his father always tried hard to give him opportunities.

"Having something like playing piano was safe for me," he said.

He drew on his experiences to compose a powerful piece inspired by the attacks on protesters by the government in Iran on January 8 and 9 this year.

This was written as a response to a project on the theme of protest that the group had been working on.

"It was a responsibility on my shoulders to really talk about this," he said.

His performance this week at the Aldeburgh Festival was so well-received that he said he had now been invited to play it at a concert in London in July.

"Coming to Aldeburgh Young Musicians at Snape changed my whole life, the area, the musicians, the instruments, it was surreal and amazing," he said.

"My dream is to become a musician, to make people happy and to help others as they helped me along my journey.

"No matter how useless and small opportunities might seem at the time, grab them, as you never know - they might start something great!"

Pourtajrishi recently received further life-changing news - he has been awarded a full scholarship to study Visual Arts and Performance at a Cambridge college.

"I am proud of my achievements and excited for the next move. We will just see what happens after that," he said.

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