The 31st Fajr International Music Festival, Iran’s most prestigious music event, slated for February 10 to 20, will host performances by numerous Iranian and foreign musicians.
Tehran’s Milad Tower, Roudaki Hall, Vahdat Hall and Arasbaran Cultural Center are set to be the venues for this year’s event, Mehr News Agency reported.
Music bands from Spain, Italy, France, Austria and Pakistan, along with Iranian groups will present repertoires from folklore, traditional and Latin pieces for music lovers.
Loris Cheknavarian, Armenian composer will be the guest conductor for Iran’s National Orchestra. He said he is honored to be present at the event, adding that several of his pieces, including some suite symphonies and ‘The Story of Noah’ are planned to be performed.
Directed by Maestro Farhad Fakhreddini, the orchestra will take the stage on February 13. Iranian Gardoon Ensemble is the other group, which will stage a concert with a Lebanese musician and lute player, Charbel Rouhana on February 17.
The ensemble’s conductor Azad Mirzapour said the group would stage a concert titled ‘Nava to Saba’ in which some pieces are derived from Iranian folk music and some from Arabic.
Kamkars, a music band and a Kurdish family of seven brothers and a sister has been invited to the festival and plans to perform a selection of its “happiest” compositions.
The concert named ‘Happy Songs of Kamkars’ will be performed on February 17 at Vahdat Hall, said Hooshang Kamkar, head of the music group.
“Fortunately, the organizers of the 31st edition of the festival have selected ensembles based on the high quality of the works and the festival is approaching world standards,” he added.
The 30-member Khorshid Music Band directed by Majid Derakhshani and Vaziri Band including composer and Kamancheh player Navid Dehqan are among the Iranian groups performing traditional Iranian music.
Dalibor Karvay, Slovakian violist and Raphael Minaskanian, Armenian pianist, are among the foreign musicians who, along with Italian Antonio Rey, specialized in flamenco style, will also perform.
Founded in 1986, the 10-day long festival is held annually to commemorate the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It hosts numerous domestic and foreign artists performing different pieces in various categories, including International and folk music, classical music and youth and women music.
