ENSEMBLE

Hesam Naseri

Mehdi Abbasi

Mina Deris

Hesam Naseri

Hesam Naseri was born in 1986 in Qazvin, IRAN. He started playing music from childhood with his father by playing Guitar and he started playing Flute when he was 12 with Naser Rahimi, Also he learned composition science and music production for many years with some great masters in Iran and international master classes. In 2016, Hesam Naseri has tried to integrate oriental music melodies and electronic music in his works and he founded “Novak Ensemble” working on new experiences in oriental music especially Iranian Music. He was Artist of Odysee program as a part of Ministry of culture of France and ACCR Cultural Scholarship in 2018 & 2019 and now he is official Member of SAFPEM – FMICA Organizers (Middle East & Europe Specified Institute of Contemporary Arts) in France and Canada. Naseri is known as a Electronic music and Fusion music artist by his works in different styles like Ambient and new age music, Also he has a lot of works in oriental music with some great musicians like maestro Alim Qasimov & Alireza Ghorbani. He has had a lot of concerts in Iran and other countries by his own and some other artists, also his has worked as a composer,Music producer and sound Eng in many albums.

Mehdi Abbasi

Mehdi Abbasi was born in Qazvin Iran in 1983.
He started his artistic career at a very young age of 17 with playing as an actor in some theaters and short movies which led him taking part in several well-known international festivals and competitions.
In 2014 he started as a professional singer and became a member of Novak ensemble which made him to have several international performances in different music festivals around the world.

Mina Deris

Mina Deris was born in 1981 during Iran and Iraq war.She started showing her talent in singing at the age of 5. Later on at school she was chosen as the best singer among other students and won the competition. At the age of 15 she was impressed by the charm of Arab music and it’s rhythm.Also she was inspired by the great Arab singer Umm Kulthum. due to the fact that her hometown is Abadan which is located in the south of Iran,she was so passionate about Arabic classic music(maqam). Furthermore Arabic is her mother tongue. She started to pursue her enthusiasm for music after university by learning Iranian classic music with Master Hengameh Akhavan and Master Farhang Sharif. Later on as she got well known among different musicianes and bands ,she joined some Pop, Folk and Fusion Iranian music bands.Then in 2014 she was gratuated from Music Conservatory of Tehran. Having researched on old Arab melodies from the south ,she has been trying to mix these melodies with electronic style which enhance more impressive mood in new generation. Mina Deris has performed alot of concerts in Iran and other countries such as Qatar,Turkey,Italy,Germany, France. In 2017 she’s had her first acting experience in a play about homeless women as an actress and a singer. She is now the lead singer of Novak Ensemble since 2016 and has many single tracks and an album called “Agitation”with this band.

ABOUT US

in Persian “Novak” means the pitch of sound.

Novak Ensemble began their journey in 2016 with a modern approach to Iranian and Middle Eastern music under the supervision of Hesam Naseri as composer, and Mehdi Abbasi and Mina Deris as vocalists.

as their first official project with the support of the international organization ICOM they proceeded to collect and reconstruct local lullabies from various areas of Iran, which the outcome of this research was an album and multiple concerts in Tehran and historical edifices under the stewardship of ICOM such as Niavaran Palace and National Museum of Iran.
since 2016 Novak Ensemble have held many concerts in the form of international music festivals or independent performances in several countries, namely Russia, France, Germany, South Africa, Bulgaria and … . that were highly admired and welcomed by the audience, which guaranteed their membership in European Festivals Association(EFA) in 2017.

Novak Ensemble can be perceived as a fusion form of Iranian (Eastern) music with an inspiration of Turkish and Arabic music. in fact the most important dissimilarity between Novak and other Iranian Ensembles is their use of diverse timbres and instruments, and occasionally ancient or innovative instruments, which is not to be found in other Ensembles. On the other hand using the voice of male and female vocalists alongside each other and in the form of pieces with various languages and dialects including Persian, Kurdish, Arabic and Turkish resulted Novak’s repertoire to be unique and colorful.

Novak’s second album “Agitation” was released in summer 2019.