TEHRAN – Iranian vocalist Alireza Qorbani and Azerbaijani singer Alim Qasimov will give a joint concert during the 18th edition of the Konya International Mystic Music Festival.

The concert will be performed at the Seljuk Congress Center of the Turkish town of Konya on September 30, the organizers have announced.  

Musicians from England, Lebanon, Tanzania, Turkey, Jordan and Kyrgyzstan will also perform concerts at the Konya International Mystic Music Festival, which is organized annually by the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism of Konya.

It always culminates on September 30, which marks the Persian mystic and poet Jalal ad-Din Rumi’s birthday.

Last year, the festival celebrated Rumi’s 813th birthday online by streaming a recording of a concert Iranian vocalist Mohammadreza Shajarian had performed at the mausoleum of Rumi a few years ago.

This will not be the first time Qorbani and Qasimov will have collaborated. 

Earlier in December 2020, Qorbani and Qasimov released a duet single entitled “Rababi” featuring a poem by Rumi.

The single, composed by Iranian musician Hessam Nasseri, was recorded by the Cultural and Artistic Institute of Ahang Eshtiagh (Aerecords), a company working in the fields of audio and video productions and publications.

The two vocalists have sung both in Persian and Azerbaijani together in the song.

Qasimov has previously worked with some other Iranian musicians.

In December 2018, Iranian composer Saeid Khavarnejad and Qasimov joined together to make an album based on the Haft Paykar, the magnum opus of the Persian poet Nezami Ganjavi (c. 1141-1209 CE).

Lyrics on the album “Haft Paykar” have been sung in Persian, Azerbaijani and French.

Qasimov and his daughter Fargana Qasimova together with the Tehran Wind Orchestra gave concerts at Vahdat Hall in January 2015.

The master also gave a concert at the Milad Hall of the Tehran International Permanent Fairgrounds in May 2014. After that program, he then performed concerts in Ardebil, Tabriz and Urmia, Iran’s major Azeri-speaking cities.   
 
In addition, Qasimov along with a number of Iranian musicians, including vocalist Mohammad Motamedi and kamancheh virtuoso Sina Jahanabadi, performed a joint concert at the 49th International Festival of Carthage in Tunis in August 2013.

Photo: A poster for a joint concert by vocalists Alireza Qorbani and Alim Qasimov at the 18th edition of the Konya International Mystic Music Festival in Turkey. (Sahar Naebi)

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