The first concert of the Tehran Cultural Ensemble was organized Monday (Jan 19) at Nazerzadeh Hall in the Iranian Artists Forum (IAF).
IAF President Majid Sarsangi described the birth of the orchestra as one of the most important art events of the year in Iran. “On the eve of the celebrations of the Islamic Revolution anniversary, it is a great pleasure to see the Tehran Cultural Ensemble starting its activities and at the same time show serious interaction with the art world while presenting the rich cultural facets of the nation that is deeply rooted in art and culture.”
The orchestra’s opening performance was attended by a number of officials and art and culture personalities including: art deputy at the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance Ali Moradkhani, head of the high council of IAF Mohammad Sarir, Hojatoleslam Mohammad-Ali Zam, Shahram Nazeri, Jamshid Mashayekhi, Khosrow Sinai, Hooshang Kamkar, Pari Saberi, and Mitra Hajjar. Ambassadors from Belgium, Austria, Congo, the Philippines, Tunisia, Egypt, Czech Republic, and Armenia also attended the performance, Honarline reported.
Cultural Message
Conducted by Nader Mashayekhi, the orchestra “defines a cultural message to promote community listening and interaction with the international society.” The ensemble commenced the program by playing Iran’s national anthem, which was followed by the IAF anthem.
On the special characteristics of the orchestra, conductor Mashayekhi said: “There is a brand new and unique order and harmony in this orchestra, as the musicians do not have a fixed place and turn places during the performance, which allows them to show their abilities and skills at different points of the program.”
The orchestra, comprised of more than 60 musicians, played 12 pieces from famous composers including the Russian Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, French Jean-Baptiste Lully, Iranian Morteza Neydavoud, Estonian Arvo Part, Finnish Jean Sibelius, and German composers Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Nader Mashayekhi was born on November 26, 1958 in Tehran. Since 2006 until July 2007, he was conductor of Tehran Symphony Orchestra.
In 1990s he was music director of an Austrian new music ensemble named “Wien 2001”.
Nader Mashayekhi studied at the University of Music in Vienna and his teacher was Roman Haubenstock-Ramati.
Some of his works have been performed by Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vienna (1998), Ensemble Zwischen Tone, Berlin (1997-98-99-2000), Klangforum Wien (1992-95), Ensemble Work in Progress, Berlin (1993), Savarian Symphony Orchestra (1997) and Tehran Symphony Orchestra (1998-2000).
