Fajr Music Festival Announces Barbad Prize Winners

The 35th Fajr International Music Festival awarded the winners of different categories with the Barbad Award at its closing ceremony at Vahdat Hall in Tehran on Friday, January 20.

The award, introduced to the festival for the first time last year, was presented to the best of music produced in Iran during the year from October 2015 to September 2016. Barbad was a renowned musician at the court of Sassanid king Khosrow II who ruled from 590 to 628 BC.

The best composition and best singer awards were presented to top musicians and singers selected by the jury, Mehr News Agency reported.

In the Classic Music category, veteran musician, composer and conductor Alireza Mashayekhi, 76, and instrumentalist, composer and conductor Peyman Soltani, 46, won the award for composing the albums ‘Grand Concertino’ and ‘Said and Heard,’ respectively.

The award in the Instrumental Music category went to tar player Behzad Ravaqi for the album ‘Pause’.

In the Vocal Instrumental Music category, composer, conductor Navid Dehqan received the award for ‘From the Soul and Heart,’ and pianist Hamzeh Yeganeh in the Fusion Music category for the album ‘Thatch’.

Two best composition awards in the Vocal Pop category went to musicians Ashkan Maheri for the album ‘Compass’ and Mohsen Chavoshi for ‘Harmless Ruler.’

Musician Mahbod Shafiei in the Instrumental Pop category for ‘Blue Silence’; kamancheh (knee fiddle) player Shervin Mohajer in the Iranian Instrumental Music category for ‘Ancient Bow’; and musician and tar player Mahyar Alizadeh for the album ‘Fairy-Like Girl’ in the Vocal Iranian Music category, were also among the recipients.

In the Vocal Instrumental Music category, traditional singer Mehdi Shahsavar won the best singer award for the album ‘Bayat-e-Tork’.

Traditional singers Homayoun Shajarian and Alireza Qorbani received awards in the Vocal Iranian Music category ‘The Lords of the Secrets’ and ‘I Fell in Love With Your Eye,’ respectively.

Hermes Records, directed by Ramin Sadighi, was recognized as the best producer and publisher.

  Tribute to Plasco Victims

At the end, Iran’s National Orchestra performed three musical pieces.

Conducted by the renowned musician and conductor Fereydoun Shahbazian and accompanied by the veteran traditional vocalist Alireza Eftekhari, the orchestra performed another piece ‘Debris’ to pay tribute to the victims of the Plasco building collapse. 

The 17-floor commercial high-rise in downtown Tehran collapsed in the early hours of January 19 after a fire broke out. The number of casualties, including shop owners, workers, ordinary people and firefighters is not clear yet.