Iranian musicians try to hit the right note

The day ultraconservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected to the presidency last June, an Iranian rock band received a phone call.

A nervous Interior Ministry official was on the line. An concert scheduled to take place at the ministry - sanctuary of powerful security and intelligence agencies - would have to be called off, he said, because "we can't guarantee your security."

Stunned, the rockers thought they were witnessing the start of a long-expected clampdown against social restrictions that had eased during the era of President Mohammad Khatami.

But that appears to have been a false alarm, band-members say - for now. "Very little has changed so far," says guitarist Amir Tehrani. "We are expecting it, but it hasn't come. Yet."

In fact, three months after Mr. Ahmadinejad's victory, Iranians have seen relatively few signs of a rollback of the increased tolerance in recent years of everything from more form-fitting women's attire to rock 'n' roll.

But tough and capricious rules are still in force. And as interest in music of all types deepens across Iran - and as Tehran marked International Music Day on Saturday - musicians of all styles say the country is entering a critical phase that will define the future of musical performance here.

Capping the day with a concert of traditional and avant-garde music in Tehran's plush Vahdat Hall, they say the time has come to clarify the new government's position.

"The music we are performing now is a [test] to find out how they will react, how the new government is thinking," says Kambiz Roshanraven, director of the House of Music in Tehran, an independent umbrella group for musicians he founded six years ago. "I'm not sure what will happen after Music Day, but I think the House of Music will continue proudly as a center for music."

Uncertainty has troubled the music scene since the 1979 Islamic Revolution forced musicians to hide their instruments. It took an edict from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the revolution, to convince some that it was safe to begin playing again - though martial music to boost war efforts against Iraq in the 1980s was officially preferred, and harsh restrictions applied.

Until a few years ago, only live performances of traditional music were allowed. While male singing is now permitted, female vocals are not. It remains illegal for TV to show instruments - which required a special permit even to transport, for a time in 1996. But today, every other car seems to have a young driver at the wheel, blasting ear-shattering and sometimes lewd Western rock 'n' roll tunes.

At a concert capping International Day performances Saturday, veteran conductor and composer Alireza Mashayekhi asked for reassurance from the podium.

"Please clarify the position of music one time - just once! - so we know what to do about it," he asked, before conducting one of his own powerfully rhythmic, unconventional works for percussion and piano.

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