TEHRAN – Shahid Parvez Khan, the Indian sitar player known for his raga improvisations, charmed the audience by the dance of his nimble fingers on his instrument during a Thursday night performance at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall. 

Parvez Khan is famous for his inspiring performance of raga, a style of Indian music based on an ancient pattern of notes. His dazzling virtuosity and innovative genius have earned him a legacy as a giant of the sitar.

Addressing the audience at the hall, the maestro called it a privilege to perform in Tehran during the Fajr Music Festival in the company of musicians from around the globe.

The first part began with a non-stop performance by the maestro, which received a wild sustained applause.

Afterwards, tabla virtuoso Akram Khan joined Parvez Khan performing some uplifting melodies.

The last part was a folk music from Afghanistan. “That was the main course and now this is the dessert,” Parvez Khan quipped.

The Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Abbas Salehi, was also among the audience.

Numerous performances will be held by Iranian and foreign musicians during the 10-day festival, which opened in Tehran on Wednesday.

Since the early days of the festival, there has been a 30 percent growth in the ticket sales, director of the festival Hamidreza Nurbakhsh told the Tehran Times before Parvez Khan’s concert.

“We have added several additional billboards across the capital to cover the news of the performances, and newspapers and news agencies have been of great help, of course,” he added.

“The advertisement for the concerts are completely defined in the virtual spaces. That is, the music fans do not have to search for music concerts on billboards or in newspapers advertisements any longer. The main media today has become people’s cellphones, so naturally individuals can find their interests by means of the social media networks they follow and buy tickets,” Nurbakhsh asserted.

However, he regretted that in the best of prime times, the social media networks and applications were blocked, which made it hard for the organizers.

“The pop concerts also faced some problems. We cannot say people and particularly the youth have lost their interest; they have not been informed of the event, but fortunately, we were able to manage through advertisements across the city.

“On the whole, each concert has its own audience and naturally, each different genre has its own audience, so we do not expect the same number of people for each concert. The concerts have been warmly received and since the first day the number of festival revelers has increased. The news and photos have helped us a lot, as well,” he noted.

He also added that all the foreign musicians have been eagerly taking part and all the programs are continuing.

Photo: The Indian musicians Akram Khan (L) and Shahid Parvez Khan pose for a photo before their concert at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on January 11, 2018. (Mehr/Iman Hamikhah)