Iranian musicians performed on the last day of the 60th International Festival of Contemporary Music, also known as Biennale Musica, in Venice, Italy, on October 16.

Pieces composed by three Iranian composers who studied in Europe, Alireza Farhang, Karen Keyhani and Mehdi Khayami, were performed by the famous contemporary Italian group Divertimento Ensemble conducted by Sandro Gorli, Honaronline reported.

The concert comprised two parts with the first titled ‘Iranian Music Between Present and Past’ and the second ‘Traditional Iranian Music.’

In the first part, tar player Milad Mohammadi performed two pieces composed by Farhang, 40. Then the kamanche (knee fiddle) player Saman Samimi performed two pieces by Khayami, 36, and finally Keyhani, 37, played two of his own compositions with the santur, a hammered dulcimer of Iranian origin.

The second part was dedicated to the performance of Mehraein Ensemble led by Keyhani and included Samimi, Mohammadi and Mohammadreza Raeesi who played traditional Iranian percussion such as daf, tombak, dayereh, bendir and kouzeh. They performed classical Iranian pieces which were well received by the audience.

After the concert, the secretary of the festival Ivan Fedele met with the Iranian composers and musicians and appreciated their work. He called their performance “one of the best concerts of this year’s biennial.”

It was the first time Iran had representation in the Venice event and given the warm welcome of the audience and organizers to Iranian music, it is hoped that Iran can have a stronger presence in the festival, and more Iranian musicians and instrumentalists can display their talent and potential in future world events.

The 10-day event brought together musicians and groups from across the globe to perform electronics, jazz, folk, pop and chamber music.

By Financial Tribune