TEHRAN -- The winners of the 24th Fajr International Music Festival were announced here on Tuesday in a ceremony held at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall.

Prior to the presentation of the awards, tribute was paid to tar virtuosos Farhang Sharif and Hushang Zarif, vocalist Ahmad Ebrahimi and composer of famous Iranian revolutionary songs Ahmad Abraviz.
Afterwards, the awards were handed to the winners in the different categories of traditional, classics, orchestral, choral, and pop music.
At the traditional section, the bands “Jovan” conducted by Roham Sobhani and “Alan” conducted by Hamid Haseli shared the first place award. The two bands “Abidar” lead by Bahram Saed and “Eshraq” by Asghar Mohammadi shared the second prize. “Aiienh” lead by Majid Kulivand and “Navay-e Mokhalef” by Masud Najafi shared the third prize.
At the classics section, the band “Nivak” conducted by Golriz Zarbakhsh and “Arsi Nava” by Armin Qeitasi shared the first prize. The violin and flute duet of Paniz Far-Yusefi and the band “Ansambel-e Javan” lead by Milad Alami shared the second prize. The band “Celito” conducted by Kelariz Keshavarz took the third prize.
At the orchestral section, Tehran’s wind orchestra conducted by Sina Zakaii took the first prize. The band “Mehrnava” conducted by Tazli Bakhshayesh took the second prize and the symphony orchestra of the University of Tehran took the third prize.
At the choral section, the band conducted by Milad Omranlu won the first prize, “Parsian Band” by Maziar Atrian won the second prize and “Rusta” by Saber Jafari won the third prize.
At the pop music section, “Ideh” band by Ali Tafreshi took the first prize, “Tornado” by Hossein Zare’ and “Kadance” by Ali Hosseini shared the second prize. The band “Bayat” by Bamdad Bayat took the third prize.
In addition, several composers were recognized at the music composition section including Nima Heidari for the piece “Tombs,” Amir-Sadeq Kanjani for “Iranian,” Saman Samadi for “Night Broker,” Sara Lesan for “Motion Continues,” Afarin Mansuri for “Soldier of the City,” and Amir-Bahador Sadafian for “Mr. Winter Died.”
The 24th Fajr International Music Festival kicked off here on December 9 at several different concert halls and cultural centers in Tehran and Shiraz.
Photo: Tar virtuoso Hushang Zarif (2nd from R) receives an award from Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Hossein Saffar Harandi during the closing ceremony of the 24th Fajr International Music Festivan at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on December 16, 2008. Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs Mohammad- Hossein Imani Khoshkhu (1st from R) and Iranian Academy of Persian Language and Literature Director Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel are seen in the photo. (Mehr/Mohsen Sajjadi)