Regional Music Festival kicks off today

TEHRAN,May 19(MNA) – The 8th Regional Music Festival will open today with senior musicians from different provinces in several halls across Tehran and Kerman. Tehran’s Vahdat Hall will be hosting a group of Ahiqlar from Tabriz, East Azarbaijan, as well as a group from Kurdestan on the first day, the festival organizers reported in a press release on Saturday. An Ashiq, also spelled Ashik and Ashug, is a mystic troubadour or traveling bard, who blends together instrumental and vocal music, dance, poetry, and storytelling in his performances. The art of Ashiqlar or Ashiqs, mostly performed by men, is more common in Iran’s northwestern provinces. Donya Kamali will give a tanbur (tambura) solo performance and Hossein Valinejad will play dotar on the first day of the festival at the Art Bureau Hall. Rudaki Hall is also hosting musicians during the festival, which will close on May 21.