The Iranian conductor Paniz Faryousefi has made history as the first woman to conduct the Tehran Symphony Orchestra.

Faryousefi will lead the orchestra's Land of Simurgh concerts, which took place on Wednesday and Thursday at Vahdat Hall. The music on the program was by the Iranian composers Aftab Darvishi and Golfam Khayam, as well as works by Robert Schumann, Jean Sibelius, and Aram Khachaturian.

IranWire reported that Faryousefi was grateful to the Rudaki Foundation and the orchestra’s artistic council for selecting her, and she described her appointment as a sign of confidence and support for women in Iran’s classical music scene.

She added that after three rehearsals, the orchestra played in a fluid and cohesive manner, with the players demonstrating "professionalism and empathy."

A graduate of the Tehran Music Conservatory and the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, Faryousefi is concertmaster with the Tehran Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also the founder and leader of the Novak String Quartet, and has appeared as an invited guest violinist with the New York Philharmonic.

"Art belongs to humanity, not to men and women," Faryousefi said. "The presence of a female conductor in Iran may still seem a bit unusual, but music is our common language, and this issue doesn’t matter between me and the orchestra members."

"I hope my experience can pave the way for other enthusiasts in the field of orchestral conducting."