Shahnaz festival deadline extended

Tehran, Nov 23, IRNA - The organizers of the First National Shahnaz Music Festival announced that the deadline for submitting the works has been extended to November 27. Mohsen Mehralian, director of the event’s public relations office, said the decision was made due to the increase in the number of requests for participation in the festival. Earlier, the deadline for submitting works to the festival’s secretariat was November 21. He added interested artists can register and submit their works via the website: www.moshir.net The festival, to be held in Isfahan province during January 4-9, 2014, will include four competition sections of ensemble, solo, music composition and articles. The festival aims to promote prestigious Persian music and art. A number of educational workshops and exhibitions of musical instruments will be held on the sideline of the festival. In addition, a number of veteran musicians are to be commemorated in the event. Shahnaz was a leading Iranian virtuoso on the traditional instrument ‘tar’. He died at the age of 92 in 2013. Shahnaz was one of the greatest maestros of classical Persian music and the soloists of ‘tar’. He received his training in music under the supervision of Abdolhossein Shahnazi and his elder brother Hossein Shahnaz. In 2004, Shahnaz was honored as Iran’s eternal figure in the art and music category. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award the same year. In 2008, the traditional Persian vocalist Mohammad Reza Shajarian named his most recent musical ensemble ‘Shahnaz’ in honor of the late maestro./end