The music of Iran has thousands of years of history dating back to the Neolithic age, as seen in the archeological evidence of Elam, one of the earliest world civilizations, which was located in southwestern Iran. A distinction needs to be made between the science of Music or Musicology which as a branch of mathematics has always been held in high regards in Iran; as opposed to Music performance, (Tarab, Navakhteh, Tasneef, Taraneh or more recently Muzik) which has had an uneasy and often acrimonious relationship with the religious authorities and, in times of religious revival, with society as a whole.
International recognition of Iranian music
Music of Iran and Iranian musicians have received countless awards in the course of history. Here are some:
2007
- Mozart Medal, Mohammad Reza Shajarian.[3]
- Légion d’honneur, Shahram Nazeri.
- Grammy Award (nommination), Endless Vision, Hossein Alizadeh and Djivan Gasparyan.
2006
- Grammy Award (nommination), Faryad album, Masters of Persian Music.
- Grammy Award, Ali Shirazinia, Shahram Tayyebi and Deep Dish.
- Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance (nommination), Persian Trilogy by Behzad Ranjbaran.
- “Best Middle Eastern Song” & “Best Middle Eastern Album”, 2006 JPF Awards: Andy Madadian.
- “2006 Best International Armenian Album Award” for the 2006 Armenian Music Awards: City of Angels by Andy Madadian.
- Golden Lioness Award for Best Conductor, The World Academy of Arts, Literature, and Media: Ali Rahbari.
- Golden Lioness Award for Classic Music Best Soprano Performer, The World Academy of Arts, Literature, and Media: Monika Jalili.
2005
- Golden Lioness Award for Classical Performance, The World Academy of Arts, Literature, and Media: Shakila.
- UNESCO music award (Picasso award), nomminee: Mohammad Reza Darvishi.
2003
- Grand Prix du Disque for World Music, Dastan ensemble and Parisa.
- BBC Awards for World Music, Kayhan Kalhor.
2001
- NAV’s best contemporary world music album: Axiom of Choice (band).
- Best Recombinant World Music Ensemble in 2001 by the LA Weekly Music Awards. (nommination): Axiom of choice band.
2000
- Orville H. Gibson Award, Lily Afshar.
1999
- Picasso Medal, Mohammad Reza Shajarian.
- Pikanes award, Thailand’s most prestigious music award for an outstanding orchestral performance: Shahrdad Rohani.
1977
- Prestigious Gold Medal at the Besancon International Conductors’ Competition, Ali Rahbari.
- Silver medal in Geneva International Conducting Competition, Ali Rahbari.
Others
- Rudolf Nissim Award, Behzad Ranjbaran.
- Grand Prize in the Aspen Music Festival Guitar Competition, Lily Afshar.
- Top Prize in the Guitar Foundation of America Competition, Lily Afshar.
- Loris Tjeknavorian, Homayoon Order and Medal for the composition of “Son et Lumiere Persepolis 2500″
