January 24-2014
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is trying to arrange a concert tour to Iran this September to mark the 50th anniversary of its last visit to Iran.
The symphony was the last American orchestra to perform in Iran, in 1964.
Negotiations with Iran about a concert tour are already underway with the knowledge of the State Department. But the talks have only recently turned serious, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Friday.
It said the orchestra acknowledges that many hurdles, on both sides, remain.
“They still have a lot of details to work out, but we’re going to stay in close touch with them as this goes forward,” Gregg Sullivan, senior adviser on Iran at the State Department, told the Post-Gazette.
Also promoting the idea of a tour is the American Middle East Institute (AMEI), a Pittsburg-based organization not affiliated with the Middle East Institute (MEI) in Washington, DC.
“If we succeed in taking the symphony for this breakthrough concert [tour] in Tehran, it will be a sensation,” said Simin Yazdgerdi Curtis, president and CEO of the American Middle East Institute.
Representatives of the orchestra and AMEI are planning an advance visit to Iran next month during the Fajr International Music Festival. “We have been invited to come over to begin preliminary discussions,” said Robert Moir, the orchestra’s senior vice president of artistic development and audience engagement.
That February trip is pending visa approval, said Mrs. Curtis, who is part Iranian and used to live in Iran but hasn’t been back since 1968.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the orchestra’s visit to Iran in 1964, which also was the last time any American orchestra traveled there. That anniversary serves as a primary motivator for the tour, as does the possibility of cultural diplomacy.
One of the conditions of the tour is that the orchestra would not draw from its own operating budget. AMEI would be responsible for fundraising, including reaching out to individuals and local foundations, Mrs. Curtis said. The current cost is estimated to be roughly $4 million, she said.
The orchestra and AMEI had discussed the possibility of touring Iran in 2009, but the post-election protests that year derailed the plans, Mrs. Curtis said. Realizing the 50th anniversary was coming up, Curtis and Moir revisited the idea last summer, she said. They secured a meeting with Mohammad-Ali Najafi, director of the Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO), while he was in New York during the United Nations General Assembly in September, Mrs. Curtis said.