TEHRAN -- Tehran’s music scene is set for a week of performances and commemorative events spanning Iranian percussion traditions, Western classical music and popular Iranian song. 
The program includes a tribute to the late tombak virtuoso Muhammad Esmaeili, a chamber concert titled Soug ta Sepideh (From Mourning to Dawn), a performance by the Chakavak Orchestra, and professional teaching-certification examinations for traditional Iranian string instruments.
The 59th Arasbaran Music Night will pay tribute to Esmaeili, the influential Iranian musician and tombak player whose career helped preserve and develop the country’s percussion traditions.
The memorial will feature presentations by Mina Oftadeh and Muhammad Delnavazi, who will discuss Esmaeili’s artistic legacy and his contribution to Iranian music. 
A tombak ensemble led by Muhammad Mirzakhani and the Moshtagh daf ensemble, directed by Mehrdad Karim-Khavari, will also perform. Film excerpts and video recordings documenting Esmaeili’s work and performances will be screened during the event.

Organized as part of Arasbaran Cultural Centre’s ongoing series honoring significant figures in Iranian music, the program will take place on Monday, 12 October 2026, at 7pm. Admission is free and open to the public.
The venue is located on Jolfa Street, north of Seyyed Khandan Bridge, off Shariati Street in Tehran.
Born in Tehran on 26 August 1934, Esmaeili—whose full birth name was Muhammad-Ali Esmaeili Matin—was introduced to the celebrated percussionist Hussein Tehrani in 1951 by his maternal uncles, Morteza and Mostafa Gorginzadeh.
He began working with musical ensembles in 1958, performing with the National Music Orchestra and its percussion group. From the early 1960s, he travelled internationally to present Iranian national music to audiences across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Esmaeili began teaching at the National Music Conservatory in 1964 and, two years later, took charge of the percussion ensemble of the Ministry of Culture and Arts. His playing followed the school established by Tehrani, combining solo performance with extensive experience accompanying orchestras.
During the 1980s, Esmaeili joined the Group of Iranian Masters, working under santur player Faramarz Payvar alongside tar virtuoso Jalil Shahnaz, kamancheh master Ali-Asghar Bahari and ney player Muhammad Mousavi. The ensemble toured extensively across Europe, Asia and the United States.
Esmaeili, who held Iran’s highest grade of artistic qualification, died on 13 August 2023, aged 88, following a period of illness.

Soug ta Sepideh: From Musical Grief Towards Hope
Roudaki Hall will host Soug ta Sepideh on Saturday, 17 October 2026, at 8pm. Accompanied by a string ensemble, the concert seeks to bring renewed attention to lesser-heard works alongside familiar compositions from the European classical repertoire.
Conducted by Mahmoud Mirzaei, the performance will feature Ahmad Razavi as piano soloist and Ali Alizadeh as concertmaster.
The program is expected to include music by Anton Arensky, Vasily Kalinnikov and Robert Fuchs, alongside works by Franz Schubert and Johann Sebastian Bach.
According to the organixers, the concert follows an emotional arc, beginning with music of a mournful character before gradually moving towards a sense of hope. 
The project aims to introduce audiences to compositions that have received less attention in contemporary concert programming, placing them in dialogue with more established works of the classical canon.
Chakavak Orchestra Revisits Songs of Jahanshah Pazouki
The Chakavak Orchestra, under the direction of Reza Shayesteh, will turn to the repertoire of Iranian composer Jahanshah Pazouki for a concert scheduled for Thursday, 15 October 2026, at 9.30pm.
The performance will feature three singers: Muhammad Afrooz, Majid Husseinkhani and Majid Hantoushzadeh. The concert will also introduce Hantoushzadeh, a new face to audiences through the orchestra’s continuing efforts to provide performance opportunities for emerging vocalists.
Pazouki’s compositions form the centerpiece of the program. His songs remain part of the shared musical memory of several generations of Iranian listeners, and Chakavak’s approach seeks to bring this repertoire back to the concert stage through live performance.
The orchestra has made the presentation of established Iranian composers and the introduction of younger singers recurring elements of its work. According to Shayesteh, approximately 90 percent of the ensemble’s members have remained unchanged over the past decade, providing continuity as the group develops its artistic mission.
The upcoming concert continues that commitment to preserving and reinterpreting the musical heritage of earlier generations.

Teaching-Certification Examinations for Iranian String Instruments
The House of Music of Iran has announced an examination for applicants seeking teaching-qualification cards in three traditional instruments: the tar, setar and tanbur.
The examinations are scheduled for Sunday, 11 October 2026, at the House of Music of Iran’s premises. Only applicants who have registered through the relevant system and completed their application files are eligible to participate.
Further information is available from the House of Music of Iran on +98 21 6691 7711 or +98 21 6691 7712.
The qualification scheme forms part of the professional framework for music instruction in Iran, where the tar, setar and tanbur occupy important places in the country’s diverse regional and classical traditions.