Kayhan Kalhor opposed to cancelation of concerts as protest movement

TEHRAN –(Iranart)- Kurdish Iranian kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor, who called off his Istanbul concert in protest of Turkey’s assault on Kurds in Syria last October, has said that he is opposed the cancelation of concerts by his fellow musicians in country as a protest movement.

Speaking to the audience before his performance along with Scheherazade Quartet at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on Sunday evening, he expressed his condolences over the deaths of the passengers of the Ukrainian jetliner, which was unintentionally shot down by Iran last week, and said that he has opposed suggestions from his associates to cancel his concerts in Tehran due the recent bitter events in the country, the Persian service of MNA reported on Monday.

“Under these circumstances, I think we should be beside you, feeling the energy from each other and improve the harsh and violent situation by music instead of belligerence and anger,” he said     

“Serious music and serious art should never stop,” he noted.

Earlier last October, Kalhor, talking to the audience before his concert with the Rembrandt Frerichs Trio at London’s Royal Festival Hall, announced his decision to cancel his Istanbul concert in protest over Turkey’s assault on the Kurds in Syria following the U.S. withdrawal from the country at that time.

The decisions by a number of top musicians, including Shahram Nazeri, Alireza Qorbani and Alireza Assar, to cancel their concerts in sympathy with the victims of the Ukrainian jetliner event have been viewed as a protest against the Iranian government’s mishandling of information concerning the downing of the plane.

source: Tehran Times