TEHRAN – Master of Iranian ritual music Gholam Margiri, famous for his performance on the daf and the unique tone of his voice, died of a stroke on Friday. He was 81.

Margiri was originally from the southern Iranian city of Hormozgan and was called Baba Zaar in his hometown. The Zaar ceremony is a healing ritual, which uses the daf, drumming and singing to heal the spirit of individuals.

He gave his last performance of Zaar at the Festival 4020 in the northern Austrian city of Linz where several Iranian and international performers had attended.

Margiri was due to attend the 2nd Ayeneh-Dar Regional and Ritual Music Festival to be held at Tehran’s Rudaki Hall from June 6 to 9.

Before beginning his performance, Margiri transferred the spirit of music to the European participants with his charismatic character, percussionist Alireza Mollahosseini, who was accompanying Margiri in the festival, had said earlier.

Music researcher Morteza Safa called Margiri a treasure of special potentials of music and his death was a great loss for the regional music of Iran.

Austria’s Festival 4020 Artistic Director Peter Leisch offered his message of condolences over the death of Margiri.

Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs Ali Moradkhani offered condolences over the demise of the master and called Margiri a great musician of the Iranian southern region, who had a special status among musicians and surely nobody would replace him in the future.

In a message submitted to the Persian service of IRNA, Leisch called Margiri a successful musician who had a unique personality.

He added that it was a great honor for him to have hosted the master at his festival.

Peter Leisch had traveled to Hormozgan to delve deeply into the music being performed in this region in April 2014.

He described Iran as a diverse continent of the music of the world and said that Iran enjoys a unique variety of music, which has the potential to influence the world.

The festival focused on Iranian music in 2013 by organizing the Persia-Mirror program, which featured performances by Iranian musicians from around the world.

Photo: Iranian ritual musician Gholam Margiri in an undated photo

RM/YAW
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