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| Iranian Music Museum | |
|---|---|
| Name | Iranian Music Museum |
| Native name | موزه موسیقی ایران |
| Established | 2010 |
| Location | Tehran, Iran |
| Type | Music museum |
| Director | Hooshang Kamkar |
Iranian Music Museum The Iranian Music Museum is a public institution in Tehran dedicated to preserving and presenting Persian musical heritage, including classical, folk, and contemporary traditions. The museum documents instruments, recordings, manuscripts, and biographies associated with luminaries from the Safavid era through the Pahlavi period and the Islamic Republic. It functions as a cultural hub linking performers, composers, scholars, archivists, and conservatories.
Founded in 2010 with initiatives from the Tehran Municipality, the museum followed earlier archival and collection efforts by the Iranian Academy of the Arts, Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and private collectors such as Parviz Meshkatian and Hossein Alizadeh. Early supporters included the Roudaki Foundation, the National Music House (Iran), and musicians from the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, Aref Ensemble, and Shams Ensemble. The project was influenced by research by ethnomusicologists connected to the University of Tehran, Shiraz University, and the Iranian Centre for the Study of Music. Its inaugural exhibitions featured artifacts donated by families of Ostad Gholam-Hossein Banan, Abdolhossein Saba, Rouhollah Khaleghi, and Ali-Naqi Vaziri, while oral-history projects recorded testimonies of performers such as Mansour Nariman and Parisa. International collaborations involved institutions like the British Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and Bibliothèque nationale de France for comparative research and conservation training.
Housed in a restored building near the Golestan Palace complex and the National Museum of Iran in central Tehran, the museum occupies a historic structure refurbished by the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization. Architectural restoration drew on conservation standards promoted by the ICOM and consultations with architects affiliated with the University of Tehran Faculty of Fine Arts and the College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran. The interior design integrates elements inspired by Persian garden layouts seen at the Shazdeh Garden and acoustic treatments modeled after the Vakil Mosque chambering to optimize sound demonstrations. The facade retains motifs common to Qajar era townhouses while gallery spaces reference the layout of institutions like the Aga Khan Museum.
Permanent galleries display fretted and fretless instruments including variants of the tar, setar, santur, kamancheh, ney, and daf, alongside rarer specimens such as the chang and ghaychak. Exhibits present manuscripts of compositions by Mowlavi, transcriptions by Ali-Naqi Vaziri, and recordings from ensembles like Shajarian Ensemble and Dastan Ensemble. Instruments associated with performers—Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, Gholam-Hossein Banan, Shahram Nazeri, Hossein Alizadeh, Kayhan Kalhor—are exhibited with contextual materials from the Iranian Radio and Television Organization archives. Temporary exhibitions have showcased collaborations with the Roudaki Hall, the Niavaran Cultural Center, and international festivals such as the Fajr International Music Festival and the World Music Expo (WOMEX). Conservation labs feature techniques from the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property and house a reference library with holdings from publishers like Simorgh Records and Avaye Mahoor.
The museum runs guided tours, instrument workshops, and lecture series with masters affiliated with the Iranian Conservatory of Music, the Tehran Conservatory, and the Honarestan-e Musiqi. Masterclasses have included artists from the Ava Ensemble, the Nava Center, and visiting scholars from SOAS University of London and the École Normale de Musique de Paris. Outreach partnerships extend to the University of Tehran Department of Musicology, Shahid Beheshti University, and youth programs supported by the UNESCO Iran Office and the Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran. Annual events coincide with the Nowruz cultural calendar and the Fajr Music Festival, featuring performances in the museum’s recital hall and participatory programs for students from conservatories such as the Roudaki School of Music.
Administratively, the museum operates under a board with representatives from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the Tehran Municipality, and the Iranian Academy of the Arts, with curatorial leadership provided by musicologists from the University of Tehran and practitioners from ensembles like Dastan Ensemble and Aref Ensemble. Funding sources include municipal budgets, grants from the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, private donations from patrons connected to labels such as Mahoor Institute and Avaye Nava, and revenue from ticket sales and venue rentals used for concerts affiliated with venues like Roudaki Hall. International project support has come from foundations such as the Prince Claus Fund and partnerships with academic institutions including Harvard University and the University of California, Los Angeles for digitization projects.
The museum is located near Baharestan Square and is accessible from stops on Tehran’s public transit network including the Tajrish Metro Station and bus routes serving the Grand Bazaar and the Tehran Bazaar. Opening hours vary seasonally with special hours during Ramadan and national holidays such as Nowruz. Facilities include an auditorium, a conservation laboratory, and a reference library stocked with periodicals from publishers like Mahoor Publications and recordings distributed by Zurkhaneh Records. Guided tours are available in Persian and often in translation for visitors from institutions such as SOAS and the British Council. Admission fees and program schedules are published through municipal cultural listings and partner sites like the Roudaki Foundation.
Category:Museums in Tehran Category:Music museums Category:Music organizations of Iran