Tehran’s Vahdat Hall was packed with music fans on Monday (August 31) as it was host to the concert of Lian music band, a folkloric music group.
Led by Mohsen Sharifian, the band is so popular among Iranians that its performance on a weekday, when not many singers and groups would dare to hold their concerts, was completely sold out.
As usual the band, led by the ney-anban (Irish bagpipe) virtuoso Sharifian, performed a repertoire of folk music of their native region Bushehr, in the south of Iran.
Bushehri music stems from Bandari music, which is common in Iran’s southern coastal cities, around the Persian Gulf region. ‘Bandari’, which literally means ‘of the port’, is a derivation of the Persian word bandar, meaning port.
As Sharifian said, folklore music of Bushehr is music that is present in the daily lives of its people. “Music is our life. I am keener than the audeience to see what happens on the stage,” he said.
Beautifully designed, the set resembled a ship with white sails, lit with blue lights in the center. The band played several rhythmic pieces, enthralling the audience to the point that their applause was explosive, reports Honaronline.
Sharifian was so energetic that he played all the requests of the audience.
An important characteristic of the performance was that the ensemble “were not just seated or standing all the time.” In fact, movement is the essence of Bandari music and the singers and instrumentalists accompanied their performance with rhythmic motions, creating a jovial mood in the hall.
Hailing from the southern province of Bushehr, Sharifian, 40, has spent the last two decades immersed in the musical traditions of the region, writing several books and collecting songs and composing new works inspired by them.
He is a virtuoso performer on the two ancient, emblematic instruments of the Persian Gulf, Nay-Anban and Nay-Jofti (double-pipe reed flute) and since forming the Lian Band in 1993 he has released nine albums and performed around the world, from the US to the Far East.
Less than a week ago, the band received an honorary diploma and a statue at the first International Festival of Rhythm Nagara in the Republic of Azerbaijan, held August 22-28.
