Exclusive: Tehran Symphony Orchestra suspends 40 rebel musicians

Forty musicians in the Tehran Symphony Orchestra who refused to work with the Iranian conductor Manuchehr Sahbai have been suspended from their jobs. Local commentators suggest the suspensions are aimed at undermining the orchestra’s existence.

The British conductor Mark Stepehnson, who has been in touch with the rebels, has sent us this account:

Orchestras play a vital role in the cultural life of a nation and, like sports teams, their performances on the international stage are a source of national pride. The Tehran Symphony Orchestra is no exception. Its musicians strive to perform great music by the world’s greatest composers at the highest possible level and they also teach the next generation of Iranian musicians. I can vouch for this, having had the pleasure of working with the musicians of the TSO as a guest conductor in January 2016, at the invitation of Maestro Ali Rahbari and the Roudaki Foundation, a concert of music by Beethoven, Grieg and Tchaikovsky at Vahdat Hall, the soloist was Iran’s veteran concert pianist Novin Afrouz. Our concert together took place on the day the US sanctions against Iran were previously lifted, 19th January 2016.
Since 2016 I have been developing the Internava Project, supporting young Iranian musicians and composers, traditional Persian music on original Persian instruments and Iranian contemporary music for ensembles and orchestras.

I understand there has been a breakdown of the relationship between the Iranian conductor Manuchehr Sahbai and members of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra and that 40 musicians have been suspended for refusing to play for him. The conductor-orchestra relationship is complex, a symphony orchestra relies on the leadership and musicianship of a conductor, and when that relationship breaks down, it is usually
irreparable.

As I understand it, the government of Iran adopts a similar arms-length policy as the government of the United Kingdom, when it comes to the governance of the arts. Both governments have Ministries of Culture, but they devolve many decisions in specialist areas to other expert bodies, in the case of Iran the Roudaki Foundation, and in the case of the UK, the Arts Council. The parallels probably end there!

The TSO is not self-governed by its musicians, appointments and contracts are made by the orchestra’s management, but the orchestras’s conductor and guest conductors cannot function if they cannot command the respect of the musicians. It is exactly the same in a company, a school, a football team and many other situations. The authorities in Iran will understand that if you suspend 40 players in the TSO, it is
impossible to replace them in sufficient numbers at a high standard, let alone making the moral case for suspending them in the first place. I hope that a mediator can resolve the situation, reinstate the musicians who have been suspended and find a face-saving way
forwards for both the conductor and orchestra, whereby they can agree an amicable separation.
20th July 2023