Evin Agassi

I started to sing when I was a kid at school. In my teens, I trained at the Iranian National Radio and Television Station in the music department. I started with Assyrian songs, thereafter, Persian songs. I started working with many famous Iranian poets and composers, and produced many popular songs, which were broadcasted on the radio and TV stations, many of them reaching the top ten records of the time.

In 1976, I was invited to the United States for some concerts in California and Chicago, which were very successful. Going back to Iran, I produced many new songs based upon my nice experience in the United States. I produced some social political songs, forgetting the censorship in Iran. These songs, which reflected mostly about the humanities, equality, and freedom, were collected by the government and banned. In such an atmosphere, I decided to move to a democratic country as the Untied States, where my dreams of social and political freedom became a reality. But this reality was not favored by Middle Eastern governments, such as Iraq...where my songs were banned and my name was put on the black list of Saddam Hussein. That government did not like my songs that awoke the Assyrians (my people) of Iraq, to wanting peace, freedom, equality, justice, and human rights. Because Iraq is a created country which came into being after World War I, in actuality, the whole country is ancient Assyria and Babylon.

From 1980 and onward, I sang more than two hundred songs which were accepted with enthusiasm by all the Assyrians around the world. The message of my songs ignited the spark among the Assyrians' patriotism in Iraq, where thy established the most powerful Democratic Party, which is known as Zowwa, "Assyrian Democratic Movement". The said party invited me to perform a concert in the no-fly zone of Iraq, my trip to that land which was under the supervision of the allied forces was a historical one, which prompted the Iraqi government to create a blackout in Northern Iraq, and sent there hit-men (assassins) for an attempt on my life. Fortunately, with the help of the guardsmen, I came to safety, although I am an American citizen, and an Iranian Assyrian, still the Iraqi government tried to bribe me into participating in concert in Baghdad. I received an invitation from the Minister of Culture, but declined the invitation. The second time they invited me was with a proposal for a tremendous dollar value, but again, I rejected the invitation. Thereafter, the government of Iraq collapsed in 2004.

During my long career as a performer, I have gained tremendous experience of the Assyrians all over the world, and once I was even called the visiting Ambassador of Assyrian. Throughout my career, I have traveled millions of miles around the world. Such as Europe, including England, Germany, France, Austria, Australia, Holland, Russia, Syria, Iran, North of Iraq, and not to mention all over the U.S.A. and Canada. Most of the adults of today were raised with my songs, and my songs have become a heritage for them. Every Assyrian, young and old, looks up to my music for its lyrics and music. I have raised hundreds of thousand of dollars for the churches and the welfare organizations all around the world helping our Assyrian people. I have to remind that out of my five hundred songs, most are romantic. They also vary from "Pop", to happy, to dance songs.

In my present career, I am performing mostly for the young generation so our young generation can grow up to my music, but with the same lyrical value there parents grew up to and know. I have just completed my fortieth album, which consists of sixteen songs, from social, to happy, to romantic.

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Source: Evin official page.