Renowned Iranian Setar player, Persian music composer and teacher Jalal Zolfonoun has died of heart disease at the age of 74 in Tehran.
Zolfonoun was hospitalized 3 weeks ago for heart failure and underwent a major operation.
Born in 1937, Zolfonoun began playing the Setar at the age of eight. At the age of 13, he enrolled in the National School for Iranian Music to study musical theory, composition and technique.
Zolfonun was admitted into the Faculty of the Fine Arts department of Tehran University in 1967, where he continued his Setar studies.
He then began combining the techniques of the older masters of Setar with his own ingenuity and mystic sensitivity.
He was also a professional player of the Tar and the violin and performed in different international events and venues such as New York's Lincoln Center, London's Royal Albert Hall and the Persian Art Festival in Dusseldorf, Germany.