.jpg "Tehran Vocal Ensemble conductor Milad Omranlu (L) gestures after being honored with presents during a ceremony the Music Office held on August 17, 2014 to praise his group’s achievements at the 8th World Choir Games in July. Vocalist Mohammadreza Shajarian (R), Music Office Director Piruz Arjmand (2nd from right) and two unidentified persons are also seen in the photo. (Mehr/Hadi Hirbodvash)")
TEHRAN – The Music Office of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance celebrated the achievements of the Tehran Vocal Ensemble at the 8th World Choir Games during a ceremony at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on Sunday evening.
The a cappella group received the gold medals in the sections of Mixed Chamber Choirs and Folklore, and the silver medal of the Popular Choral Music section at the festival, which was held in Riga, Latvia from July 9 to 19.
“Tonight, we have come together to honor an ensemble, which has achieved the greatest successes of our music history in the international arena,” Music Office Director Piruz Arjmand, who also accompanied the ensemble at the festival, said at the ceremony.
“The ensemble also showed that Iranian artists have the merit of taking the best places at international events,” he added.
The ceremony went on with performances by the Tehran Vocal Ensemble, and afterward Milad Omranlu, the conductor of the group, addressed the audience.
“The successes would never have been achieved without the collaboration of each member of the ensemble,” he said.
“I thank the members, who are the best since the establishment of the group,” he noted.
A number of prominent musicians, including Mohammadreza Shajarian and Nader Mashayekhi, attended the ceremony.
“In the stormy and heavy sea of music in Iran that the waves have taken me under water, I touched the sands, finding a pearl, which was the Tehran Vocal Ensemble,” said Mashayekhi, the former conductor of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra.
He praised Omranlu for establishing the ensemble.
Living legend of Iranian traditional music Shajarian said, “As a vocalist, I know how hard it is to perform a song without music. It is also hard to harmonize the members of an ensemble when there are no instruments in a performance. However, you were able to tune your voice with the quiet voice of the conductor for the performances.”
“Congratulations to you who are talented and were able to do a performance, which our music culture has never experienced before,” he added.
The ceremony ended with presenting some awards to Omranlu and the members of his group.
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