On Roxanne Saberi, Musician: Her CD includes a Baha'i song
Saberi began playing piano when she was five years old. She studied through her sophomore year of college, and then decided to focus more on school and soccer. Through the rest of her undergraduate and graduate studies, and into her professional career, Saberi played the piano as a hobby.“When I lived in Iran, I had the choice between buying a piano and a car,” she said. “They cost the same amount of money -- I bought the piano.”
Saberi recorded her tracks at Concordia after contacting professor Jay Hershberger, who was her piano professor while in college. Hershberger connected her with Concordia professor Russ Peterson as the audio engineer.
Peterson claims his job was easy -- pressing a button and letting Saberi do her thing. But Peterson did more than that; he offered her encouragement and reassurance of her musical abilities.
“She would say, ‘I’m not a composer. I’m not classically trained,’ and I would just tell her not to worry that she doesn’t have a degree in composing,” Peterson said. “The songs are just hers.”
In addition to Saberi’s piano tracks, the CD will also include an Armenian song, an Iranian song, and a Baha’i hymn. The summary of “Between Two Worlds” says that she shared a cell with a few Baha’is -- members of the largest religious minority in Iran. The Baha’is, she said, became role models to her because of their strength and spirituality, especially when she plays piano.
“I think about the Baha’is a lot,” she said. “Sometimes when I play, there is a smile on my face because they have hope. These people are faced with injustice, but there is still hope.”
The CD, however, is not being publicized as widely as the book. This is because Saberi’s main goal is to inform people of her story and of what is happening to people in Evin.
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