While learning the rhythmic patterns of Persian traditional music she began playing the more melodic santoor under the guidance of Faramarz Payvar and Pashang Kamkar. Besides this traditional education, Naghmeh learned Sufi and Kurdish rhythms on the daf – an instrument she found both powerful and spiritual – with masters Bijan Kamkar and Masoud Habibi. Skilled on a variety of other traditional instruments, Naghmeh has been passing on these skills as a teacher for over 15 years.
Farahmand has played with many well-known Iranian ensembles and has performed widely at important festivals and throughout Europe. She was honoured to perform with Hassan Nahid, Iranian master of the ney and with Hengameh Akhavan, legendary singer of traditional music. Naghmeh also founded Sharghi, a percussion ensemble, which performed for Iran’s national television, recorded numerous pieces and performed live for over a decade.
Since moving to Canada in 2010, Farahmand has started working with a variety of music genres – Arabian, Bulgarian, Turkish, Indian and Jazz. Besides her published book, Helheleh, which includes some pieces for daf, Naghmeh is looking forward to releasing her new percussion album, Drums&Dreams.