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Anahita Hedayati Presents

The 10th Annual Piano Recital Fundraiser For UNICEF

Dr. Amir, Arjang and Ariana Hedayati

In concert Saturday, April 29, 2023

Cocktails and Performance

5:30 - 8:30 PM

The recital is benefiting UNICEF's work in Gender Equality and Empowerment

If you cannot attend this event, please consider making a donation in honor of Anahita and Ariana. 

Dr. Amir Hedayati studied the piano at a young age. He has been able to play by hearing since the age of 4 and recognizing which composer by touching the lines of the records. He was invited to be the pupil under the tutelage of acclaimed pedagogue Mark Richman. At the age of 19,having won several music competitions and awards and beating 1000's of musicians, he won his spot and performed George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics conducted by John Williams. He was awarded a Bronze Medal by the International Olympic Committee President and a recognition award by Mayor Bradley. After much considerations, he was the only Iranian that was allowed to participate in the olympics that year where Iran was banned due to the hostage crisis. After his accomplishments in music, Dr. Hedayati went on to study medicine, became a cardiologist and later an Electro Physiologist. In 2010 one of Amir's medical research abstracts was accepted by the American Heart Association and was presented by him that same November in Chicago, Illinois. He now enjoys performing for family/friends and charity events. He is currently living in Brentwood with his wife Mandana Farmanfarmaian and their two daughters Anahita 17 and Ariana 15.

Arjang Rad is a classical pianist and composer who has been teaching and performing in Los Angeles since 1990. He began his piano studies at the age of eight and studied classical piano for the next twelve years under the tutelage of pedagogue Mark Richman. At the age of twenty, he began teaching classical piano, and continues to do so to this day. He studied composition with the esteemed Romanian composer Liviu Marinescu. Arjang has played in numerous concerts, both as soloist and accompanist. Among other venues, he has performed several times at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and the famed Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles. As a composer, he has scored both short and feature length films, and for the show "9 Months With Courtney Cox." His music can be found on all media platforms. He currently resides in Brentwood with his wife and four children.

Ariana Hedayati has been a classically trained pianist since she was little. She started her training with 2 Russian concert pianists and continued on and has been since with her uncle Arjang who is a concert pianist, composer and teacher with the Music Teaching Association of California. At a young age, she was given branch and California state honors for her level four Certificate of Merit (CM) piano exam and also made it to the state convention two years in a row. She is currently preparing for her level eight CM. Ariana has also been a debater for a few years, winning multiple competitions and is now continuing on with Model United Nations. She is a tennis player and plays basketball for her school JR Varsity team. At Marymount she is the founder and president of UNICEF club, Debate club and the Persian club. She is the third generation supporting UNICEF after her maternal grandmother and mother.

Anahita Hedayati has been apart of the Notre Dame debate team since Freshman year, winning multiple rounds and awards including the Notre Dame debater of the year 2022. She is the debate tournament organizer and organized a 3 day tournament in November, where she was in charge of supervising 60+ schools from across the country. She has been the Captain of her schools tennis team for two years now, and has organized multiple community service projects for her team, including a beach clean up day and making bracelets for physically disabled kids. She has participated and volunteered for several fundraisers and advocates for mental health, climate change, human rights, and more. She hopes to study International Diplomacy and law where she can continue to make a difference with her voice. At Notre Dame High School, she is the founder and president of the UNICEF club and The Persian Culture club, where she has been hand picked by her schools faculty to educate her community on the Persian culture. She is the third generation supporting UNICEF after her maternal grandmother and mother.

About UNICEF's work in Gender Equality & Empowerment

Worldwide, nearly 1 in 4 girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are neither employed nor in education or training – compared to 1 in 10 boys. For adolescent girls especially, UNICEF invests in skills building to further their economic empowerment – as entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders. We focus on providing learning environments at a time and place that suit girls’ individual circumstances. We also work on assistive technologies for girls with disabilities, and on the expansion of digital platforms, vocational training and apprenticeships.

Supporting girls’ pathway from education to employment requires more than learning opportunities. It requires keeping girls safe from all forms of violence, in and out of school. Our targeted initiatives to prevent and respond to gender-based violence help end child marriage, eliminate female genital mutilation, provide safe spaces, support menstrual health management, deliver HIV and AIDS care, meet psychosocial needs and more. We invest in innovative models that protect even the hardest-to-reach girls – like virtual safe spaces and apps that allow them to report violence and connect to local resources for support.

To guide investment and programming decisions at the national and global levels, we collect, quantify and share data critical for understanding ongoing and emerging challenges and solutions. What’s more, we tap into the power of youth to shape solutions for their own generation.