Kayhan Kalhor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kayhan Kalhor
Kayhan Kalhor performance in Vahdat Hall - 2016 (8).jpg
Kayhan Kalhor in Vahdat Hall - May 2016
Background information
Native name Persian: ????? ??????,
Central Kurdish: ??????? ????????,
Kurdish: Keyhan Kelhur?
Born November 24, 1963 (age 53)
Kermanshah, Iran
Origin Kermanshah, Iran
Genres Traditional Iranian Music
Kurdish Music
Occupation(s) Professional Kamancheh player, Composer
Instruments Kamancheh, Setar
Years active 1973 present
Website kayhankalhor.net
Notable instruments
Kamancheh
Kayhan Kalhor (Persian: ????? ??????, Central Kurdish: ?????? ???????; also Roma
nized as Keyhan Kalhor and Keyhan Kalhor) (born 24 November, 1963 in Kermanshah,
Iran) is an Iranian Kamancheh player, composer and master of classical Kurdish
and Iranian traditional music.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Youth and studies
2 Music and musical partners
3 Discography
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Youth and studies[edit]
Kayhan Kalhor was born in Kermanshah to Kurdish family and grew up in Tehran.[2]
He began studying music at age seven. By age thirteen he was playing in the Nat
ional Orchestra of Radio and Television of Iran. Continuing his music studies un
der various teachers, he studied in the Persian radif tradition and also travell
ed to study in the northern part of Khorasan province, where music traditions ha
ve Kurdish and Turkic influences as well as Persian. At a musical conservatory i
n Tehran around age 20 Kalhor worked under the directorship of Mohammad-Reza Lot
fi who is from the north-east of Iran. Kalhor also travelled in the northwestern
provinces of Iran. He later moved to Rome and Ottawa to study European classica
l music.[2] He is a graduate of the music program at Carleton University in Otta
wa, Canada.[3]
Music and musical partners[edit]
Kayhan Kalhor has a wide range of musical influences, uses several musical instr
uments, and crosses cultural borders with his work, but at his center he is an i
ntense player of the Iranian violin. In his playing Kalhor often pins Iranian cl
assical music structures to the rich folk modes and melodies of the Kurdish trad
ition of Iran.
Kalhor has composed works for and played alongside the famous Iranian vocalists
Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Shahram Nazeri. He has also composed and performed w
ith the Indian sitar player Shujaat Husain Khan and Indian tabla player Swapan C
haudhuri in the group Ghazal. Kalhor's 2004 album In the mirror of the Sky was a
joint venture with the Kurdish Iranian lute player Ali Akbar Moradi. His 2006 a
lbum The Wind is a collaboration with the Turkish baglama virtuoso Erdal Erzinca
n, with both Turkish and Persian pieces performed. At other times Kalhor has col
laborated with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project Ensemble in the USA and the Kronos Q
uartet.
Kalhor now resides in USA and has been commercially successful in USA over the p
ast decade. Two of his works were nominated for Grammy Awards in 2004.
In 2010 Kalhor composed "I was there", which was based "on a melody attributed t
o Ziryab, a ninth-century Persian Kurdish musician", for a Maya Beiser concert.
This piece was performed by Kalhor alongside Maya Beiser, the renowned cellist B
assam Saba, an oud player, and two percussionists, Glen Velez and Matt Kilmer.[4
][5]
Discography[edit]
Kamancheh Improvisation Played by Kayhan Kalhor - Silk Road Project
MENU0:00
Problems playing this file? See media help.
Album artists Album Release date
Ghazal Lost Songs of the Silk Road 1997
Ghazal As Night Falls on the Silk Road 1998
Kayhan Kalhor Scattering Stars Like Dust 1998
Shahram Nazeri and Dastan Ensemble Through Eternity 1999
Ghazal Moon Rise over the Silk Road 2000
Kayhan Kalhor and Mohammad Reza Shajarian Night, Silence, Desert 2000
Kronos Quartet Caravan 2000
Masters of Persian Music It's Winter 2001
Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet
2001
Masters of Persian Music Without You 2002
Ghazal The Rain 2003
Ali Akbar Moradi In the Mirror of the Sky 2004
Masters of Persian Music Faryad 2005
Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon
2005
Kayhan Kalhor & Erdal Erzincan The Wind 2006
Masters of Persian Music Saze Khamoosh 2007
Masters of Persian Music Soroude Mehr 2007
Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble New Impossibilities 2007
Kayhan Kalhor & Brooklyn Rider Silent City 2008
Silk Road Ensemble Off the Map 2009
Kayhan Kalhor & Madjid Khaladj Voices of the Shades 2011
Dresdner Sinfoniker Cinema Jenin OST 2011
Brooklyn Rider Quartet Rhino Season OST 2012
Kayhan Kalhor & Ali Bahrami Fard I Will Not Stand Alone 2012
Kayhan Kalhor & Erdal Erzincan Kula Kulluk Yakisir Mi 2013
Hawniyaz Hawniyaz 2016
Silk Road Ensemble The Music of Strangers 2017
Silk Road Ensemble Sing me home 2017
Nominated for a Grammy Award
Won a Grammy Award
See also[edit]
Silk Road Project, Silk Road Ensemble
Dastgah
Music of Iran