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Iranian Singers Perform at Big Springs Mountain Retreat

Iranian sisters defy bans, performing Persian music at scenic Sierra County retreat.

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Carl J. Butz

Carl J. Butz

November 6, 2025

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Left to right: Atabak Elyasi, Masha Vahdat, and Marjan Vahdat perform at Big Springs Resort.

Left to right: Atabak Elyasi, Masha Vahdat, and Marjan Vahdat perform at Big Springs Resort.

Last Saturday afternoon, Marjan Vahdat and her sister, Mahsa Vahdat, treated an audience at Big Springs Mountain Retreat, located between Sierra City and Bassett’s Station, to almost two hours of Persian music and poetry in a beautiful setting. Natives of Iran’s capital, Tehran, they fearlessly defied a ban on women singing in public after the 1979 Islamic revolution in their country and went on to become internationally acclaimed singers and musicians.

Accompanied by a Persian sitar, played by Atabak Elyasi, the sisters blended traditional, complex Iranian melodies with contemporary expressions. Their songs reflected both hope for humanity and the artists’ lifelong passion for encouraging and empowering women to raise their voices.

To say the event was a very unique and uplifting event for Sierra County would be an understatement. Performances by the Vahdat sisters are available online at marjanvahdat.com and mashavahdat.net.

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