TEHRAN-The 40th International Fajr Music Festival aims to enhance the artistic quality of the festival based on the available resources, focusing on more serious and art music, said the head of the Music Office at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Sadri.

Speaking at a press conference held on Saturday at Vahdat Hall in Tehran, Sadri added: “To do so, we have invited professionals in the field to participate in the festival”.

Also speaking at the event, the secretary of the festival Reza Mahdavi said: “We are all striving to make Iranian music flourish beyond its current state and establish an international reputation for it”.

“The International Fajr Music Festival is a well-recognized festival globally, and many renowned musicians and prominent figures in the music world are eager to participate in it. I hope that in the coming years, we can create competition in the international section, with foreign judges joining Iranian ones to evaluate both Iranian and international works,” he noted.

Another speaker at the event was the executive director of the festival Mohammad Ali Merati. He explained that for the upcoming edition of the festival, 10 venues in Tehran have been specifically dedicated to music performances. 

“This year, we have 1,464 musicians participating in the festival, a 40% increase in the number of artists compared to the last edition,” he said. “There will be 106 bands attending the festival. Despite the challenges, we are hosting six international groups”.

Answering the question by the Tehran Times about the nationalities of the foreign participants, Merati said: “Musicians and bands from Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, Tunisia, India, and Armenia will perform in the festival and more details about them will be announced in the coming days.”

At the end of the press conference, the poster for the 40th Fajr International Music Festival, featuring a depiction of a nightingale, a symbol of music in Iran, was unveiled.

The 40th International Fajr Music Festival, organized by the Deputy of Artistic Affairs of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, in collaboration with the Music Office of the Culture Ministry, the Iran Music Association, and the Rudaki Foundation, aims to showcase and honor the best works of Iranian musicians, promote the art of music, enhance the audience’s taste and listening culture, preserve national identity rooted in religious and Iranian teachings, support creative art—especially ideas and performances by the younger generation—and identify and strengthen the quality of form and content in various genres of music. 

The festival will be held in two competitive and non-competitive sections from February 11 to 17 in Tehran.

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