Kayhan Kalhor
Kayhan Kalhor Sorani Kurdish: کهیهان کهلهور,Kurdish: Keyhan Kelhur, Persian: كيهان كلهر | |
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.jpg) Kayhan Kalhor in Vahdat Hall - May 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | November 24, 1963 Tehran,[1] Iran |
| Origin | Kermanshah, Iran |
| Genres | Persian Traditional Music Kurdish Music |
| Occupation(s) | Kamancheh player, Composer |
| Instrument(s) | Kamancheh, Setar |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Website | kayhankalhor.net |
Kayhan Kalhor (Sorani Kurdish: کەیھان کەلھور,Persian: كيهان كلهر; also Romanized as Keyhan Kalhor and Keyhān Kalhor) (born 24 November 1963 in Tehran,[1] Iran) is an Iranian Kamancheh player, composer and master of classical Kurdish and Iranian traditional music.[2]
Early life and education
Kayhan Kalhor was born in Tehran to a Kurdish family.[1] He began studying music at the age of seven. By the age of thirteen, he was playing in the National Orchestra of Radio and Television of Iran. Continuing his music studies under various teachers, he studied in the Persian radif tradition and also travelled to study in the northern part of Khorasan province, where music traditions have Kurdish and Turkic influences as well as Persian. At a musical conservatory in Tehran, while aged around 20 years, Kalhor worked under the directorship of Mohammad-Reza Lotfi who is from the north-east of Iran. Kalhor also travelled in the northwestern provinces of Iran. He later moved to Rome, Italy and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada to study European classical music.[3] He is a graduate of the music program at Carleton University in Ottawa.[4]
Career
Kayhan Kalhor has a wide range of musical influences, uses several musical instruments, and crosses cultural borders with his work, but at his center he is an intense player of the Iranian violin. In his playing Kalhor often pins Iranian classical music structures to the rich folk modes and melodies of the Kurdish tradition 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 with the Indian sitar player Shujaat Husain Khan and Indian tabla player Swapan Chaudhuri 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 album The Wind is a collaboration with the Turkish baglama virtuoso Erdal Erzincan, with both Turkish and Persian pieces performed. At other times Kalhor has collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project Ensemble in the USA and the Kronos Quartet.
Kalhor now resides in USA and has been commercially successful in USA over the past 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 to Ziryab, a ninth-century Persian Kurdish musician", for a Maya Beiser concert. This piece was performed by Kalhor alongside Maya Beiser, the renowned cellist Bassam Saba, an oud player, and two percussionists, Glen Velez and Matt Kilmer.[5][6]
Discography
| 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 Yakişir 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
References
- ^ a b c "زندگینامه: کیهان کلهر (۱۳۴۲-)". HamshahriOnline.
- ^ Schweitzer, Vivien (August 26, 2008). "A Master Iranian Musician Plays Cultural Ambassador". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-01-07. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Video - Carleton grad plays the Iranian kamancheh - Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences". carleton.ca. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Smith, Steve (19 April 2010). "A Cellist and Her Friends Explore Multicultural Harmonies". The New York Times.
- ^ "Provenance - Maya Beiser". mayabeiser.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
External links
- Kayhan Kalhor's website
- Kayhan Kalhor at AllMusic
- Video: Kayhan Kalhor speaking as an ensemble member of Silk Road Ensemble, December 2008, 13 min.
(Officially released by Silk Road Project – see silkroadproject)
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