Hafez Nazeri will stage his ‘Untold’ concerts in Shiraz and Tehran, albeit without his international ensemble.
Hafez’s debut album ‘Rumi Symphony Project: Untold’ was first released in the US in 2014 and features 38 Grammy Award winning musicians. The album took over four years and more than 5,000 studio hours in five countries to complete, Mehr News Agency reported.
The album hit number one twice on Billboard’s Classical chart, a first for an Iranian musician.
The concert was sold out in many of the most prestigious music halls worldwide. Integrating western and eastern classical music into a new universal harmony, the album seeks to bring cultures and generations together through the messages of love and unity from verses of the great Persian poet Rumi (1207-1273).
Composer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, and son of distinguished traditional singer Shahram Nazeri, Hafez wanted to hold his concert in Iran last year but did not get official permit for his international band.
Not one to give up, in March this year, he unveiled his album in Iran and then resumed efforts to organize a concert in his homeland. However, six months of interminable effort did not bear fruit as the official permit for his orchestra of all-star international classical musicians was denied once again.
But Hafez is resolute in his decision and if not with his own international orchestra, he will perform with Iranian musicians. “I have started rehearsing with a group of excellent local instrumentalists which I am sure will result in a superb performance,” Hafez said.
He said the only disappointment is that “once more I was embarrassed in front of my foreign colleagues as I could not prepare the grounds for their presence in Iran”.
“There are several foreign musicians who visit Iran and perform in concerts, many of them students of the legends I intend to bring. Such an unprofessional attitude by officials will not leave a positive impression as the musicians are all giants in their own special fields,” Hafez noted.
Brought up in a family which inspired him to step into the music world, Hafez has spent 15 years out of Iran, seeking to expand his musical knowledge as well as introduce Persian music to the world.
The concerts are slated for August 27 and 28 at Afif-Abad Garden in Shiraz followed by performances on September 2 and 3 at the Ministry of Interior’s hall in central Tehran.
