Nezhat Amiri has been appointed as the first female conductor of Iran’s national orchestra. She will assume the post on August 30 at the Vahdat (formerly Roudaki) Concert Hall in Tehran.
This is the first time in nearly 40 years that the authorities have allowed a female conductor to appear on stage in Vahdat Hall. The country’s ban on solo public performances by female artists remains in place.
Amiri was born in 1960 in Tehran. She studied music at the Tehran University School of Art. She also received musical instruction from renowned Iranian composers, including Parviz Mansouri, Hossein Alizadeh and Manouchehr Sahbaei.
Amiri was, however, unable to pursue her studies after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. She has been teaching music to children for many years, and conducted the Hossein Dehlavi orchestra in 2005.
She conducted a 60-member orchestra in a performance of “Naghmeh-e Baran” (‘The Rain Melody’) during the 33rd Fajr Musical Festival in January.
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Translated from Persian by Fardine Hamidi
