First Online Music Concert Held in Iran

For the first time in Iran, an online music concert was held on Wednesday. Alireza Ghorbani, the singer of this concert, told ISNA news agency: "People can watch our concert live from their homes." Given the many challenges in organizing concerts in Iran, it seems this method will soon become widespread. In this regard, we spoke with Peyman Soltani, a musician and orchestra conductor residing in Tehran, and first asked about the identity of the organizers and the background of this online concert. Peyman Soltani: The organizer of this concert is Mr. Hamid Esfandiari and his friends, who have been working on this project for a long time. It was supposed to be their first concert featuring my works along with the voice of Salar Aghili; however, due to Salar Aghili's tour to the USA and Canada, we could not fulfill our contractual commitment on that specific day. Mr. Esfandiari and his friends waited to see if we could make it in time, but it didn't happen. They wanted to kick off the project with my works and Salar Aghili's voice, but since that did not occur, they chose Mr. Ghorbani to start their work. Why did they propose the idea of an online concert, and was the presence of people in the hall not enough, or did they want more halls? From my initial conversations with Mr. Esfandiari, their thought process was to incorporate concerts into the increasingly networked, internet-based, and virtual world. They aimed to provide an opportunity for viewers who cannot attend concerts due to time constraints, budget limitations for expensive tickets, or those living in provinces without access to the capital, to watch the concert online through an app on their TVs, mobile phones, laptops, or tablets. We have previously experienced such concerts on major platforms like Amazon or other sites, especially in Western countries. But this is the first time in Iran. How was the public's reception of this idea? Do you think it was successful? I believe it will be successful; however, at the beginning of this process, since not everyone is aware of such a trend, the initial reception may not be substantial. Naturally, with several concerts being held consecutively, they will reach this conclusion. Concert cancellations have been frequent in recent years, both for pop and traditional Iranian music. The latest was the cancellation of Kayhan Kalhor's concert in Nishapur, as well as Shahram Nazeri's concert, which was canceled under threat. Do you think such an idea helps against these arbitrary cancellations? In my opinion, there is no new solution, and it will not help because if a concert is to be canceled, it will be canceled whether online or offline. Ultimately, how do you see the future of online concerts? Do you think we will face more abundance or broader reach of this idea in the future? Initially, it was planned to hold this concert in a hall without an audience, meaning there would be no crowd, and the orchestra would perform in an empty hall, filmed and broadcasted through the app on media and home televisions and handheld devices. However, later they decided to hold it in a hall where some people could attend if they wanted to see it up close. I believe that with the strange and rapid growth occurring in the virtual space across all areas, this field will also reach a good outcome, and I envision a bright future for it.