Kayhan Kalhor

Kayhan Kalhor is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso on the kamancheh (Persian spiked fiddle). His performances of traditional Persian music, and his many unique collaborations, have attracted audiences around the globe. Born in Tehran, he began his musical studies at the age of seven. At thirteen, he was invited to work with the National Orchestra of Radio and Television of Iran, where he performed for five years. When he was seventeen he began working with the Shayda Ensemble of the Chavosh Cultural Center, the most prestigious arts organization in Iran at the time. He has traveled extensively throughout Iran, studying the music of its many regions, in particular those of Khorasan and Kordestan. Kayhan has toured the world as a soloist with various ensembles and orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and l’Orchestre National de Lyon. He is co-founder of the renowned ensembles Dastan, Ghazal: Persian & Indian Improvisations and Masters of Persian Music. Kayhan has composed works for Iran’s most renowned vocalists Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Shahram Nazeri, has performed and recorded with Iran’s greatest instrumentalists and has composed music for television and film. In 2004, Kayhan was invited by American composer John Adams to give a solo recital at Zankel Hall as part of Carnegie Hall's Perspectives and in the same year he appeared on a double bill at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, sharing the program with the Festival Orchestra performing the Mozart Requiem. Kayhan is an original member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project and his compositions appear on three of the Ensemble’s albums. He has recorded more than a dozen albums, with three recent recordings nominated for Grammy® Awards. His cd with Erdal Erzincan, The Wind, is on the ECM label.