TEHRAN – Maestro Nader Mashayekhi, the former conductor of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, has said that the participation of promising young musicians is one good point about the 35th Fajr Music Festival this year.

“This is the only thing that needs to be done,” Mashayekhi told the Tehran Times on Sunday and added, “Iran is a country of the younger generation and it belongs to the youth; they can take responsibilities and we must trust them.”

“Iranian youth have made good progress in the country, especially in the fields of science, and we should give them this opportunity to make use of their knowledge, and with the discipline they have, they can make good progress,” he added.

He noted that he believes the young musicians are frank and honest, and when something is not good they can easily say so.

He added that the other good point about the festival this year is that the managers are taking a risk and are trusting the young musicians.

The organizers plan to honor Mashayekhi and three other musicians with lifetime achievement awards during the closing ceremony of the festival on February 19.

He pointed to the festival’s decision to honor him and said, “This helps me achieve my goals more easily because the goals are very important and need to be taken into consideration.”

“One of the goals is education. Education needs to be revived. The teaching methods need to be updated. The interested youth of today learn their lessons in a different way compared to the older times and the lessons need to be updated. The methods need to go along with today’s needs,” he explained.

“The second is that we should learn to be receptive. We have a culture that is rooted in its diversity, and we should learn to accept the diversity of tastes. All types of music have their own status, and we should learn to accept them as they are,” he noted.

“The third point is that the media should make use of music, and learn that music is not just for entertainment. Music transfers the feelings which cannot be narrated through words. We have a culture through which we can communicate with one other without words,” he added.

Mashayekhi next noted that he believes the festival has been able to gather different tastes together in one place.

“I am not interested in the entertaining aspect of music and I know that music is a tool which can help us achieve our goals, and I think the festival has been successful in gathering different tastes,” he stated.

Mashayekhi further noted that he has seen a few performances at the festival and he thinks that the Tehran Symphony Orchestra was good. 

“I think the orchestra under the baton of conductor Nasir Heidarian was good, he knows the repertoire for the orchestra,” he added.

He also said that he liked the performances by the Iranian folk music ensemble Rastak.

The maestro said that he thinks Iranian music is not in a good position in the world.

“I am not talking about traditional music which enjoys its own high position, but representing Iranian music and thoughts has had many problems because of mismanagement,” he said.

Mashayekhi conducted the Art and Culture Orchestra in a performance during the Fajr festival at the Rudaki Hall on Friday.

Photo: Maestro Nader Mashayekhi acknowledges the audience after conducting a performance by the Art and Culture Orchestra during the Fajr Music Festival at the Rudaki Hall in Tehran on February 14, 2020. (ISNA/Mona Hubehfekr) 

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