Musician Fereidun Shahbazian honored in Tehran

TEHRAN --(Iranart)- Fereidun Shahbazian, the former conductor and artistic director of Iran’s National Orchestra, was honored during a ceremony held at the Niavaran Cultural Center in Tehran on Sunday.

A number of veteran musicians and literary figures including tar virtuoso Hossein Alizadeh, vocalist Mohammad Esfahani and poet Mohammad Shams Langerudi took part in the ceremony, which was also held to celebrate the 77th birthd anniversary of the musician.

In his opening speech, Alizadeh talked of his old friendship with Shahbazian and that he regards Shahbazian as his great master.

“Shahbazian deserves plenty of praise and encouragement. We are proud to have him beside us,” he told the participants.

Songwriter and poet Akbar Azad said that Shahbazian is a musician who first introduced the poetry of Khayyam in a precious album with his composition, along with the voice of Mohammadreza Shajarian and the recitation of poet Ahmad Shamlu.

“His compositions are surely some of the best in Iranian music,” he added.

Esfahani called Shahbazian a great man who supported him as a young singer, adding, “I own my artistic life to Shahbazian, as well as (musicians) Homayun Khorram and Babak Bayat).

Director of the center Abbas Sajjadi said that Shahbazian is like blood giving life to Iran’s music.

The musician for his part expressed his thanks to the organizers and his friends and said, “Listening to good songs repeatedly is the best way to upgrade the taste of music. Music is a technique that requires repetition and practice and turns into a great art beside creativity, motivation and encouragement.”

The program ended with Shahbazian blowing out the candle on his 77th birthday cake.

source: Tehran Times