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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish singers from across the region were centre stage at Erbil’s citadel on Friday for a concert that offered a rare platform for performers, particularly women from Iran, where laws restrict them from performing solo in public.
“This experience was very good for me. In Iran, we cannot comfortably organize concerts for women and have live performances for them. So our shows were done in private settings. But this concert was something very different and memorable for me,” Aso Fallahi, a Kurdish singer from western Iran’s Kurdish regions (Rojhelat), told Rudaw.
She studied classical music and guitar at the University of Tehran and has been performing for 11 years.
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has enforced a strict ban on women singing solo in public, particularly before mixed-gender audiences, a restriction that remains in place today.
Fallahi performed at the event that brought together a diverse group of Kurdish musicians to launch the new season of the Zahawi Music House. Founded by musician Hazhar Zahawi in 2021, the institution has facilitated collaborations between Kurdish artists from across the region, as well as with international musicians.
“We issued a call for this year and requested that Kurdish groups from the four parts of Kurdistan send samples of their work,” Zahawi said. Fifty-three groups responded.
“Kurdish music is not the music of one region and one place. This year we have given attention to those beautiful groups, whether they are from the south, north, east, or west,” Zahawi said.
Zhiwar Hussein, another performer from Sulaimani, took the stage with the group Soli Fusion.
“I started singing about three years ago,” Hussein said. “Tonight, with my friends from Sulaimani under the name Soli Fusion group, we came to present a concert... We thank Mr. Hazhar very much for giving us this opportunity.”
Zahawi Music House will put on monthly concerts at the citadel.
“It's a great pleasure to be here in the citadel, the most beautiful part of Erbil, and listen to the modern Kurdish music with young people who are trying to adapt Kurdish folk to modern music, and it's really nice. I hope their dreams come true and they perform abroad and show the beauty of Kurdish music to other countries,” said Monika Anna Konczyk, from the Polish consulate in Erbil.
The concert was also attended by other diplomats and Kurdish officials, including Erbil Governor Omed Xoshnaw.
Dilnya Rahman contributed to this article.
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