An Associated Press report posted Tuesday (10/29) on the Washington Post site states, “The Iranian national symphony orchestra has been disbanded for lack of funds, musicians said Monday, another sign of the effects of Western economic sanctions. Orchestra members told the semiofficial ILNA news agency Monday that they have not rehearsed together and have not been paid for three months. Arsalan Kamkar, a violinist in the orchestra, told The Associated Press Monday that ‘only seven or eight members of the orchestra have valid contracts. Unfortunately the rest have not had contracts over the past months, and it seems unlikely their contracts will be extended.’ The orchestra was reactivated just last year, after a two-year break. … The step is likely tied to heightening economic woes in Iran because of government mismanagement and Western sanctions over Iran’s nuclear development program. … Iran’s orchestra is one of the oldest in the Middle East, founded in the 1930s. It has hosted performances by world-famous musicians like Yehudi Menuhin and Isaac Stern in the past.”
Posted November 6, 2012
