• Pieces by Iranian musicians and Azerbaijani composers were performed in Tehran’s Vahdat Hall by Iran’s National Orchestra in a program titled Azerbaijani-Iranian Music Night on January 16. Azerbaijani conductor Agaverdi Pashayev was the guest conductor of the Thursday night event. Vocalist Fakhri Kazim Nijat and tar player Sahib Pashazadeh, both from Azerbaijan, accompanied the orchestra during the performance, which featured a repertoire of songs including Asgarin Ariyasi, Sana da Qalmaz, San Siz, Ayriliq, Karanful, In Memory of Saba and Shur Afarin, and compositions by the late celebrated Iranian composer Hossein Dehlavi.

  • Pieces by some Armenian composers performed by Iran’s National Orchestra in a program titled Armenian Music Night in Tehran on December 19. Iranian-Armenian maestro Razmik Ohanian conducted the orchestra during the concert, which was held at Vahdat Hall. Compositions by Komitas, Aram Khachaturian, Edward Avedisian and Loris Tjeknavorian were selected to perform at the concert. The orchestra was accompanied by soloists Samvel Galstyan and Vahan Badalyan, and duduk player Saro Poghosyan. Iran is home to some 70,000 Armenians, most of them are the descendants of expatriates who fled persecution by the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

  • Iran’s National Orchestra will begin rehearsals on 20 August at Vahdat Hall. Guest conductor Esmaeil Vaseghi and singer Amir Mohammad Tafti will lead the evening program at 21:30.