About Jan Porvas
Hossein Hazrati was born in the Yarsan (Ahle Haqq) family in 1984
in the city of Tabriz in Iran. Then he started his art and spiritual journey under the name of Jan (Can) Porvas which means spirit.
Jan, who started music with Naghara (drum) at the age of 6, continued his career with the keyboard because of his intense interest in electronic sounds. He continued his music education and studies at home in the form of a master-apprentice relationship. As enlightening of music, Jan started to learn the classical music of Azerbaijan. When he was 10 years old, he had already made his first composition. Since the age of 17 he continued his art career professionally by playing the keyboard in different music bands.
After meeting with the master artist Cavit Murtezaoğlu, Jan started to learn the philosophy of music and continued his career in spiritual and mysticism music.
Due to numerous challenges in Iran, Jan continued his master-apprentice education with Cavit Murtezaoğlu in Istanbul. Consequently, he was introduced to musical instruments, Tanbur and Daf, which have a very important place in the belief of the Yarsan. Not only he mastered the Daf but ended up teaching more than 50 students of whom many still play.
He has worked as an artist and editor in albums:
- Cavit Murtezaoğlu & Virtüözler
- Tebriz’den Toros’a
- Rezbar
- Bayrek Kuşçuoğlu
Having to move to the United States as a refugee in 2016, Jan continued his music projects and practices in the US. Tora’dan (whisper from the deep) music group, which its foundations was set in Istanbul with his wife Tovas Porvas. He has performed in music festivals such as Treefort Festival, California World Festival, World Village Festival, and Idaho Shakespeare.
Performance
Jan also plays the tanbur and Piano and performs regularly at festivals and concerts. Jan also composes, arranges and mixes sufi, and traditional Iranian Turkish music, using both Western and Middle Eastern instruments.
Music Instruction
Jan has taught dozens of people to play the daf at all levels. He studied Bijan Kamkar's methods and technique. He currently gives lessons to local daf students through a grant with the Idaho Commission on the arts.