The 31st Fajr International Music Festival ended Saturday after awarding the winners at the closing ceremony, held at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall in the presence of a large gathering of musicians and cultural figures.
While music bands from Spain, Italy, France, Austria and Pakistan performed during the 10-day festival, the competition section was only for local musicians in 14 separate fields, Mehr News Agency reported.
Amin Honarmand won the best classic composer award for his album ‘Unspoken Complaints’ and Shahrdad Rouhani, the best classic album for his ‘Iranian Orchard.’ He dedicated his award to his late father.
Darkoob Band, directed by Homayoun Nasiri, received the award for best traditional pop music composition for its album ‘Nokoub’ and ‘Fish and Moon’ co-produced by Hojjat Ashrafzadeh and Arash and Amin Bayat, the best traditional pop album award.
The renowned Mohammad Esfahani was adjudged the best pop vocalist for his album ‘Glory’ while the best fusion album award went to ‘Passage’ by Siavash Roshan.
Chartaar Band was declared the best pop composer for the album ‘You Are the Rain.’ Fereidoun Asraei and Behrouz Safarian won the best pop album for ‘Love Is...’
The best folklore album award went to Sohrab Mohammadi for his ‘North Khorasan’. In ‘Culture of Iran’ section, three works by Sohrab Pournazeri, Afshar Namvar and Saeid Nayeb-mohammadei, were given plaques.
The best Iranian album recorder award went to Ardeshir Kamkar for his ‘Lost Faith’ and Alireza Qorbani, adjudged the best Iranian vocalist for his ‘Rain Drops’.
A joint work by the acclaimed Homayoun Shajarian and Tahmoures Pournazeri, titled ‘I am Neither an Angel nor Satan’ won the best vocal album award. The best composer award went to Houshang Kamkar for his album ‘Migration of Violets’.
Large Jury
The winners were selected by a jury comprising a large number of music specialists from across the country.
Farzad Talebi, director of the music department of the Ministry of Culture, who opened the ceremony, said this year’s edition of the festival was “promising.”
Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati paid tribute to the musicians and said the presence of world known musicians was the most remarkable feature of the 31st festival. Noting some “shortcomings in the festival timetable arrangements,” he hoped it would not happen again.
Ali Moradkhani, deputy minister for art affairs said the budget for the music event is expected to be doubled for the next fiscal year. Festival director Hamidreza Nourbakhsh was also present.
Repertoires
Since February 10, local and foreign bands and ensembles performed for the huge audiences at Tehran’s Milad Tower, Roudaki Hall, Vahdat Hall and Arasbaran Cultural Center, the venues for the festival.
The finale at the closing ceremony was by the Pakistani music group directed by Faiz Ali Faiz, which performed local pieces in honor of Imam Ali (AS), the first of the 12 Shia imams, in beautiful harmony that was a combination of Pakistani, Spanish and Arabic music which enthralled the audience.
The Austrian two-member ‘Bartolomey Bittmann’ group, also known as ‘Progressive Strings Vienna’, performed pieces that were a blend of baroque and progressive rock styles. The two performers, Matthias Bartolomey on the cello, and Klemens Bittmann, violin and mandola player, received a huge round of applause for their rendition.
The local Rastak band was among the most remarkable with renditions of folklore pieces from different regional music styles including Gilaki, Kurdish, Lurish and Azeri.
Iran National Orchestra, conducted by veteran musician Farhad Fakhreddini also took the stage with pieces ‘Rounama’ by Mohammad Heidari, ‘I Saw You’ by Majid Vafadar, and another piece by Homayoun Khorram. An instrumental folklore melody by Kazem Davoudi, received enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Ardavan Kamkar, a member of well-known folklore music band ‘The Kamkars’ surprised the visitors with his Santur (a hammered dulcimer of Iranian origin) recital performance. In addition, the local music band ‘Seven’ played several pieces from their last album.
Founded in 1986, the festival is held annually to commemorate the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It hosts numerous domestic and foreign artists skilled in various categories, including international and folk music, classical music and youth and women music.
