Tehran Vocal Ensemble led by Iranian Milad Omranloo and Thomas Caplin, guest conductor from Norway, gave “an instrumental voice performance” at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on Monday.
A unique ensemble, members of the group use no instruments. Their musical style is based on each singer using vocal chords to make instrumental sounds and perform as a harmonic orchestra.
The ensemble, comprising nine men and nine women, performed modern choral pieces in different styles of jazz and pop as well as old compositions by German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, Argentine tango composer Astor Pantaleon Piazzolla and American composer Moses George Hogan, Honaronline reported.
Ambassadors of Belgium, Switzerland, Slovakia and Uruguay and a large number of Iranian artists attended the event.
Established in 2006 in Tehran by Milad Omranloo, the ensemble opened the gateway to a new style in Persian acapella music inspired by European bands.
The group’s first concert was in August 2007 at Rudaki Hall in Tehran after five months of rigorous practice, following which the choir performed several times at Vahdat Hall.
They have won several international awards including: first place at the 24th Fajr International Music Festival, Iran, 2008; gold and silver medals at 2nd Asian Choir Games, South Korea 2009; gold medal at ‘Europe and its Songs’ festival, Spain, 2009; and gold diploma at ‘In Canto Sul Garda’ festival in Italy.
The ensemble has also performed in Yerevan, Armenia, 2009 and in Vienna and St. Polten, Austria, 2012.
Ensemble Founder
Omranloo, 38, is a graduate of composing from Tehran Art University. His music activities started in 2000, with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra as timpanist, and percussion instruments. He took part in several performances with conductors such as Loris Tjeknavorian, Ali Rahbari, Shahrdad Rohani and Nader Mashayekhi.
In 2008, he won the third prize in the composing competition “Singing and Sports” (2008 Olympics Games) with his piece “The Peace Bird”. In January 2010, traditional vocalist Alireza Ghorbani sang two of his pieces with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Omranloo has passed choir conducting master classes in the Netherlands, Norway and the US and has given several performances as guest conductor with the Manado State University Choir (MSUC) from Indonesia, in the US.
Guest Conductor
Caplin, 55, is a choir conductor, composer and professor in choral conducting and management who received his education as a singer, conductor and choral pedagogue at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen and the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm.
He frequently engages as guest conductor and adjudicator in competitions in Norway and abroad. He is particularly renowned as a specialist within the psychological/pedagogical aspects of choral leadership. He also specializes in the cross-field between classical and rhythmical singing and conducting.
He has received international recognition for his leadership of choirs such as World Choir champions in Shaoxing, China, 2010.
