Tehran Times November 1, 2017 Wednesday Maestro Loris Tjeknavorian donates all scores to Music Museum of Iran TEHRAN – Maestro Loris Tjeknavorian donated his entire collection of scores to the Music Museum of Iran in Tehran on Tuesday. The donation was made in a special ceremony that was attended by Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs Ali Moradkhani and several top musicians, including Shahram Nazeri, Farhad Fakhreddini, Shahin Farhat and Kambiz Roshanravan. At the ceremony, Moradkhani said that the collection will help provide a rich and valuable source for the researchers and students. He called Tjeknavorian a great man and promised that the collection would be preserved in the best possible condition. "All Iranian people have a share in my works since an artwork does not belong just to its creator; it is a blessing from God," Tjeknavorian said for his part. He added that all his compositions have been inspired by God and called himself "a music chef". Tjeknavorian was born in 1937 in Borujerd in the southwestern Iranian province of Lorestan and was educated in Tehran. After he studied violin and piano at the Tehran Conservatory of Music, he studied composition at the Vienna Music Academy, where he graduated with honors in 1961. Tjeknavorian has performed throughout the world, having conducted international orchestras in Austria, Britain, the United States, Canada, Hungary, Iran, Finland, the former Soviet Union, Armenia, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Africa and Denmark. His own compositions have been performed by major orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra in New York and the Tehran Symphony Orchestra. He also has tried his hand at painting and held an exhibition of his works at the Iranian Artists Forum in Tehran in April 2016. In addition, his book "Kharestan" (The Land of Donkeys), containing short comic stories on donkeys, was published in March 2017. Photo: Maestro Loris Tjeknavorian delivers a speech at the Music Museum of Iran on October 31, 2017 after donating his entire collection of scores to the museum. (Mehr/Mehran Riazi) RM/MMS/YAW