117-year-old tanbur player to perform at Iranian festival

Tanbur is an Iranian string instrument similar to the setar mostly played by locals in Kermanshah Province accompanied by the daf.

The shape of the tanbur of today is different from the old ones. “I don’t believe modern tanburs convey the same depth of spirituality as the old ones do and this is the reason I am taking part in this festival. I want to familiarize the youth with the maqam music we used to play with the old instruments,” Hosseini said in a press release issued by the Public Relations Office of the festival.

“I learned how to play tanbur when I was a child. My father Tarimorad and uncles were my first masters. Later I continued with master Nasrollah Jeyhunabadi.”

Hosseini lives in a village near Sahneh in Kermanshah Province. His birth certificate shows he is 103, but Hosseini claims his certificate was issued when he was 15 and that he is now 117.

Musicians Keikhosrow Purnazeri and Ali-Akbar Moradi learned tanbur with Hosseini.

RM/YAW
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MNA