TEHRAN The closing ceremony of the 16th Fajr Intl. Music Festival was held here on Saturday night in Vahdat Hall with the participation of a group of expert musicians and those interested in music.

On the occasion of the Year of Imam Ali (AS), the ceremony started with a beautiful performance by the 40 Daf Group. Daf is a traditional Iranian musical instrument. The lights were turned off and after a short silence, some people began playing daf among the audience in different parts of the hall and then joined the female daf players on the scene. They circled the conductor chanting Ali, Ali in an interesting harmony. They wore colorful, traditional dress.

Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Masjed Jame'i said Iranian music is the most valuable heritage of the Iranian civilization and culture.

Addressing the closing ceremony of the 16th Fajr Music Festival Saturday night, the minister said despite its diversity in various parts of the country, Iranian music enjoys a unity from within that can serve as a base for a national movement that embodies all ethnic groups.

Furthermore, he stressed, music as a common language can convey Iran's message throughout the world, adding that the important point is to deliver the message with its own specific style and characteristics.

He underlined the need for research work in the field of music and said taking advantage of various cultural sectors in the field of music will help further promote the art.

Elaborating on the 16th Fajr Music Festival, the Head of the Music Center, Ali Moradkhani, said that over 60,000 people attended performances during the festival.

Between the speeches, different groups performed. There was a section called "A Glance at the 16th Festival". The Group of Barbod performed their work, which is similar to Tajik traditional music.

Mr. Darvishi, the secretary of the 2nd Navahi Music Festival, (held in Kerman Dec. 27-31) declared the statement of the festival.

Mr. Pirniakan announced the vote of the jury festival. This year's festival featured a new section dealing with the building of musical instruments. In this section, artists from Torbat-e Jaam, Shirvan, Tabriz, Khorramabad, Kermanshah, Mashhad and Tehran won prizes.

Ali Tajvidi, the renowned Iranian composer was honored and talked to the audience about music and the beauty of Iranian poetry. The prize of Song Composition went to the well-known poet Bijan Tarraqi. The National Orchestra conducted by Farhad Fakhreddini gave a performance which was followed by several other programs, including one by the Georgian group.

At the end of the ceremony selected conductors were honored.