Tehran, Feb 1, IRNA - Tehran Symphony Orchestra will resume its activities in the 30th Fajr International Music Festival after a hiatus of two years.Announcing this at a press conference on Saturday, the Culture Ministrys Music Office Director General Pirouz Arjmand said the orchestra is to mark the beginning of its activities by performing Irans national anthem on the opening day which will be attended by President Hassan Rouhani.
He said the orchestra, conducted by Manouchehr Sahbaei and Shahrdad Rohani, will also perform at the closing ceremony.
Arjmand noted the piece titled Niayesh-e Yazdan (Praising God), composed by Heshmat Sanjari, will be performed along with Irans national anthem in the first part of the orchestras presentation while the second part will pertain to a number of pieces conducted by Rohani.
He also said a work titled Prophet of Mercy, composed by himself, is to be featured in the festival in Persian, Arabic and English.
Irans cultural attachs in Germany, Spain, Italy and Austria helped us invite a number of Iranian music groups and ensembles to the festival which will improve the quality of the event.
The director added currently, Iran boasts great instrumentalists and composers.
Grounds have been prepared to discover new music talents and tap their potentials by establishing a center for young musicians. Also, Irans national chorus association will be inaugurated concurrent with the Ten-Day Dawn Celebrations (February 1-11).
He noted a new section will be included in the upcoming edition of the festival titled Festival of Festivals in which selected works of other Iranian artists including Homayoun Khorram and Jalil Shahnaz are to be staged.
A workshop on choirs techniques will be held in Shiraz (Fars province) for Iranian choral conductors on the sidelines of the festival, Arjmand said.
Also, artists who have won national and international prizes will be honored in this years festival.
He added 11 folklore music ensembles will contend in this years fest, of which eight will participate in the events Folklore Music Section and three will take part in the Festival of Festivals Section.
Plans are underway to organize a separate festival for folklore music ensembles.
He said the profitability potential of music industry in Iran is 10 times greater than that of movie industry, adding while, its budget is far less and has not increased for years.
Speaking at the same conference, Ali Torabi, the fests secretary and the director of Iran Music Association, said, Fajr festival is one of the oldest and biggest music events in the region which has few counterparts in the world. Therefore, it requires more funds.
He noted 1,222 artists are to contend in the fests upcoming edition.
Torabi put the number of music ensembles/soloists and foreign participants to attend the event at 109 and 103 respectively.
By IRNA
The Iran Project is not responsible for the content of quoted articles.
