Our Online Music Instructors Are Here To Teach You

Reza Abaee is introduced to music at an early age by his father who teaches him tombak (Iranian percussion) and kamancheh (spike vielle). With this latter instrument, he deepens the study of music Iranian tradition and the radif art. However, the musician chooses the fiddle gheychak for his following years of apprenticeship at the University of Azad (Tehran) where he graduates in Iranian music in 1997. Later on, Reza pursues a career at Tehran Conservatory as a teacher of kamancheh, gheychak and Western music history (1997-2013). At the same time, the musician multiplies collaborations, including with the m

Setareh Ahmadi born in 1991. BA degree in Iranian Music playing, Setar instrument, from Tehran University of Art. She learned Setar from Aidin Olyanassab.  The repertoire of music: Ten pieces for tar Hossein Alizadeh. The pieces of Parviz Meshkatian, The Radif of Mirzaabdollah, The pieces of Faramarz Payvar, The pieces of Ahmad Ebadi and Jalal Zolfonoun. Work Experience:  ⁃ Concert performance in Roodaki Hall as Oud instrument player in Oranous Music Band.  ⁃ Solo Setar playing as Torkaman concert in Tehran University of Art.  ⁃ Setar and Tombak duet Concert performance

Pouria Akhavass is a musician and traditional Persian vocalist  from Tehran Iran, Born in 1981, he holds a bachelors degree in Persian Literature from the University of Iran.  Pouria started music when he was six years old and began singing when he was seven. Pouria loved singing to himself by listening to the older generation of Persian vocalists on the radio or with cassette tapes.  In 1995 Pouria started to sing with the master Razavi Sarvestani (who was knowledgeable about Mastero Taherzadeh’s radif and Persian radif -the system of Persian classic music). Pouria was also one of the Mr Bor

Tigran Aleksanyan was born in the Ararat Mountains of Armenia. Music has been an important part of his life from early childhood, and his father enrolled him at music school at age nine. He started learning the shvi wooden flute, then moved on to the duduk.  It’s an instrument unique to the Caucasus and is generally considered Armenia’s most important and characteristic instrument. Usually made of apricot-wood, with a fat double reed, it's distinctive, seductively plaintive timbre has gained worldwide appeal.  Tigran studied with, among others, two of Armenia’s greatest duduk

Ali Asghar Arabshahi was born in 1986. He started playing the Tonbak as a child and learned playing on the Tar from his father. Then he entered the conservatory of music and benefited from the presence of masters such as Houshang Zarif and Mohsen Nafar. He won first place in all academic courses and won first place in Tar solo in the young festival and the student festival in three courses. Arabshahi also has the following activities in his artistic career:  1- Collaboration with Siavash band sung by Homayoun Shajarian  2- Collaboration with  Eshtiagh (enthusiasm) band sung by Alireza Ghorbani 3

He has trained in Mystical & Traditional Music from 1989 under supervision of famous masters as follows: Mr.Seyed Khalil Alinejad, Mr.Taher Yarveysi, Mr.Iraj Dashtizadeh & Mr.Hossein Mehrani.He is professional in Tanbour, Tar, Sitar, instrumentalist. In addition he is making Tanbour & Sitar. He has teaching Tanbour in several Institutes behind some research about Tanbour style in ancient.  Masoud's lessons are held in Farsi!

In the past few years, Reza Asgarzadeh, more than being known as a musician, has been active in the field of sound engineering and has also marked important events in this field. But playing has been an integral part of his life for years, and he himself calls it the disease of playing; Right from the age of five when his serious musical education started with the piano until his youth when he chose the duduk as his favorite instrument and in the meantime he worked with various artists such as Peter Soleimanipour, Kristof Rezaei, Ostad Ahmad Pejman, as well as Hossein Alizadeh and Jivan. Gasparian collaborated, a

Sami Asmar teaches beginner and intermediate levels of the nay, traditional Arab flute, as well as maqam music theory. He is the founding president of a local community orchestra and founder of the Turath.org web resource on world music. He is a long-time member of the UCLA Near East Ensemble under the direction of Prof. AJ Racy, and is the alternate instructor/lecturer. Sami has published numerous magazine articles on Arab musicology, commissioned music encyclopedia entries and four book chapters.

Fariborz Azizi is a Los Angeles-based Tar and Setar player, composer, music educator and researcher.   Born in Tehran, Iran, in 1961, Azizi has studied under the tutelage of some of the most highly acclaimed masters of Persian classical music, including Hossein Alizadeh, Mohammad Reza Lotfi, Dariush Talai, Arshad Tahmasbi, Massoud Shaari and Hamid Motebassem.   In a career spanning over three decades, Azizi has been recognized as one of the most influential music educators of our time. He has instructed and mentored hundreds of students of varying ages and nationalities on the tar and setar,

Born into a family steeped in music, kanun(Turkish zither) player and composer Didem Başar started her music education at Istanbul Turkish Music State Conservatory when she was 11 years old. After completing the Conservatory’s kanun program, she continued her training at the same institution and received her Bachelor’s Degree in composition. Her interest in examining the effects of art on society led her to pursue a Master’s Degree in the musical analysis of Mevlevi Music at Marmara University. She gave lectures on Turkish music and kanun playing techniques at

Ahmet Ozan Baysal, who is particularly specialized on Bağlama performance and Şelpe techniques, received his bachelor's degree from Selçuk University - Music Education Faculty in 2010 and graduated from Ethnomusicology master program of Istanbul Technical University - Music Department (Center for Advanced Studies in Music - MIAM) in 2013. He continues his Bağlama Performance Ph.D. education in the same center since 2013. He works as a research assistant at Istanbul Technical University - Center for Advanced Studies in Music - MIAM since 2014. As Bağlama/Şelpe performer artist and lecturer, he has giv

Negar Bouban is an Iranian musician and Oud player, Born in Tehran, Iran, 1973. At the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, getting an MA degree in Architecture, with the design of Tehran future Conservatory, focusing on special acoustic design for Persian music rehearsal venues, she studied music and musical acoustics at the same time which finally ended in a PhD in Art Studies focusing on Persian Music Theory. Mastered playing Oud and Persian Radif with the renowned Iranian Oud master Mansur Nariman, Negar has been working with different bands of Persian Classical music for over a hundred live perform

Sahar Ebrahim, born in 1984, is a renowned Iranian Kanun player, composer, and music instructor. Sahar had started learning music from an early age. She started her academic musical journey in the music School and willingly went on to the college of Fine Arts,University of Tehran to gain her bachelor‘s degree in music. After graduating from Fine Arts, she entered the Music College of the University of Art and obtain her master‘s degree in 2010. Sahar is highly acclaimed since she started cooperating with eminent Iranian musicians, namely maestro Mohammadreza Shajarian, Maestro Hossein Alizadeh,

Amir Eslami Mirabadi was born in Iran and immigrated to Vancouver in 2015. He studied at the Tehran University of Art, receiving a BA in music in 1996 and an MA in music composition in 2002. He later served as a faculty member at the university, including as Head of the Iranian Music Department and Dean of Administration for the Music Faculty. Amir has won multiple Iranian and international prizes (Italy, Australia and Netherlands) in music composition. He has released four music albums as a composer and more than ten music albums as a Persian Ney (Persian Traditional Flute) player. His pieces have been p

Bahareh Fayazi was born in 1979 and start learning Tar and SeTar from the age of 8. She graduated M.A. from Tehran University of Art. Winner of Barbad Award for instrumental music for Roshana Album 2016    Bahareh was taught by and worked with great maestros such as,  Zeyd-o-Allah Tolooiee, Arshad Tahmasebi, Daryoush Tallaaei, Daryoush Pirniyakan, Hossein Alizadeh, Masoud Shoarie and Mohammad Reza Lotfi  She has been teaching Tar and SeTar for many years now. And also she is a lecturer in Girls Collage of Music in women's group since 2014, managing director of Bahareh Music Institut

Mahboobeh Golzari is a Persian traditional singer.  She has learned singing under supervision of Saeedeh Saeedi, Parisa, Mohsen Keramati, Master Hossein Alizadeh, Mohammad-Reza Lotfi, Amir Eslami and Master Mohammad-Reza Shajarian.  She has performed alongside Master Alizadeh and Ham-Avayan band in Ilam University.  She has had concerts in Vancouver, Canada in 2017 and in Earth center, Melbourne, Australia in 2018.  She has performed the song “Laalaayi Kordi” in the movie “Turtles can fly” directed by Bahman Ghobadi and the soundtrack composer Master Hossein Alizade

Alba Guerrero was born in Huelva, Spain (1974), and is currently living in Barcelona. She started her musical education at the Cristina Heeren Foundation of Flamenco Art in Sevilla with the great masters Naranjito de Triana y Manuel Soler among others. In Barcelona she continued her musical studies at Taller de Músics and graduated with a Degree in Traditional Music, specializing in Flamenco from (2010, ESMUC). Later obtained a Master's Degree in Advanced Flamenco Studies (2018). Outstanding among her participation in many musical projects with flamenco and world music are her collaboration with

World-renowned, Pejman Hadadi is considered one of the most innovative Iranian percussionists. He was born in Tehran, Iran on February 19, 1969. At the age of 10 he began studying Tombak, the central drum in traditional Persian music with Master Tombak player, Assadollah Hejazi for 2 years and owes the foundation of his training to this Master’s precise teaching. He continued his training for a brief time with Master Tombak player, Bahman Rajabi who exposed him to an entirely different approach of playing the instrument. Pejman tirelessly followed the various styles of famous Tombak players and was captivat

Siamak Jahangiry, Persian Ney player (bamboo flute) and composer, was born in Chaloos, Iran, in 1971. Before his academic achievements at college, he started his artistic career with learning to play Ney under the supervision of Persian traditional music master’s like Mr. Abdolnaghi Afsharnia. He holds his Master’s degree in Music from the college of fine arts in Tehran in 1996. Meanwhile studying academically at college, he continued playing Ney under the supervision of Mr. Mohamad Ali Kiani Nejad. His thesis was about Ney and an analytical research upon Ney playing procedures among former and contem

She was born in Istanbul. After primary school, She entered the ITU Turkish Music State Conservatory Instrument Education Department. She took lessons from “Ney” from Salih Bilgin and Niyazi Sayın, Turkish Music Solfege, and Theology from Erol Sayan and Doğan Dikmen, and Western Music from Ali Eral. In 1996 she entered the Instrument Education Higher Department. She graduated in 2000. She completed his master's degree at Haliç University Institute of Social Sciences with a thesis on “A Suggestion on Undergraduate Ney Education in Turkish Music Conservatories.

Parisa Kasheffi was born in 1359 SH. She was a music-major in art school and was taught by many well-known tar players such as Hosein Alizadeh, Fariborz Azizi and hooshang Zarrif. Other than her primary instrument, the Tar, she plays the Kamancheh and was taught by Saeed Farjpouri. Afterwards, she pursued her love of music by majoring in music at university.  She was a member of bands such as Sepehr, Shahrzad, and Shemshal. Parisa Kasheffi is currently continuing her career as a Tar teacher.  Parisa's lessons are held only in Farsi.

  She was born in Çanakkale. She started his musical education at Istanbul Technical University Classical Turkish Music State Conservatory and continued her master’s program at the same university. She received her Classical Kemenche education from great master Cuneyd Orhon. She finished her sufficiency in Art Program(Art Ph.D.) at Afyon Kocatepe University on 03.12.2012. She took place in many significant concerts both in Turkey and foreign countries (South Korea-Seoul, Iraq-Erbil, Germany, Nederland, Nigeria, Malta, Qatari, Italy, Greece, etc., Ending Concert of Ankara Festival with Preside

Abdul-Wahab commenced his oud studies in 1989 at the National Music Conservatory of Amman, Jordan under the tutelage of Sakher Hattar. While in Amman, he also received tutelage and guidance from Iraqi oud virtuoso Munir Bashir. As a soloist and a member of the Conservatory’s Arabic Music Ensemble, he participated in many of the Middle East’s musical and cultural festivals (see select participations below), including Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts and the Arabic Music Festival in Cairo. In the United States and Canada, Kayyali performed both as a soloist and ensemble member with various groups in

Negar Kharkan is a virtuoso of the Kamancheh, a composer and an author. She is renowned within Iran and the diaspora as being one of the most gifted Persian classical musicians of her generation and is unique in being the only musician in Iran, female or male, to have worked with all the most acclaimed Persian classical Maestros and ensembles: Maestro M.R. Shajarian,Maestro  Dariush talai,Maestro Ardeshir Kamkar, Maestro Sh. Nazeri and Maestro Hossein Alizadeh. Negar Kharkan has performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls around the globe on numerous extensive world tours. In 2016 her album relea

  Hooshyar Khayam (b.1978) is an Iranian-British musician. He has a bachelor’s degree in the traditional music of Iran, Masters and Doctorate in Composition from the United States. He is now working now on his second Doctoral degree in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Montreal, and he is a Visiting Professor at Carleton University in Ottawa. He plays the piano, writes music and songs, conducts professional and amateur orchestras, and teaches to students from the age 9 to the age 90! He teaches in Farsi, English, and French.

Lebanese-born Joseph Khoury discovered oriental percussion at the age of three. He later nourished his love of music under the tutelage of Gaby Hasouany, Wassim El-Helou, and Fady Yaacoub at The Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music, where he was ranked first in oriental percussion for three consecutive years. He further honed his skills in the Libra percussion ensemble, directed by Mr. Yacoub and featuring the great Tony Anka. Equally accomplished on the darbouka, req, ketim, and dahola, Khoury has accompanied some of the greatest North American and Lebanese artists since the age of fifteen. He has free

Lucy Luan is a Guzheng (the Chinese 21 stringed zither) player, an improviser, and a traditional Chinese poetry music explorer. She holds a master's degree in Music Education from Arizona State University in the United States of America. Since 4 years old, her life and this traditional Chinese instrument have been intertwined. After she graduated Bachelor's degree in Musicology she decided to pursue her music dream abroad,  since then she discovered her passion for improvising and has been collaborating with musicians from all kinds of different genres for decades. The range of her collaborators a

Behnam Masoumi Born 1986 Multi-Percussive Instrumentalist - Chair of the Department of Rhythm and Percussive Instruments at the Tehran Conservatoire of Music - Official performer for the Vancouver World Music company from 2014-2016 - Performer for the Lotus Revival Company of Austria Activities: Performed in well over 28 musical album projects such as Benjo, In the Moment, In the realm of solitude, Tanide, Tar o Pood, Three Oud, Ghatre, Ravi, Ejaz, Chopi,... Participated in international festivals in Germany, Netherland, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Canada, Australia, Armenia,... Took th

Behzad Mirzayi has been a Tombak instructor at Pars Music Academy since 2006 to this day. He himself has been playing the Tombak from an early age. He began his lessons 1991 and was taught by many great instructors including Morteza Momtaz,  Daryoush Zargari, Bahman Rajabi and Pejman Hadadi. Aside from Tombak, Mirzai is also able to play the Tar and the Santour.    Behzad has taken part in many significant and popular shows including the Commemoration of Maestro Alizadeh in 2003 and in the series of shows conducted by Alizadeh titled "Ham Avayan" which was performed in many cou

Mahdieh Mohammadkhani was born in 1986, Tehran, Iran and began learning music at early ages, by playing the Piano. She has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Azad University. Mahdieh began learning the art of Iranian Vocals & Radif (Style of Taherzadeh) in 2009 under the guidance of Mr. Gholamreza Rezaie, a distinguished student of Maestro Mohammadreza Shajarian. In 2012, she was accepted into Maestro Shajarian’s masterclasses and was able to learn the teachings of the maestro in person.    Over the years she has had the opportunity to work with some of the most p

Music Training Courses: 1. 1987, starting music education before Professor Kazem Davoudian; 2. As of 1989, acquisition of radif (meaning order) of Professor Abolhassa n Saba and Opus of Professor Faramaz Payvar before Professor Reza Shafeian (Center for Preservation and Broadcasting Music); 3. 1992, acquisition of part of radif Mirza Abdallah before Professor Majid Kiani; 4. 1994, high course of playing santur before Professor Parviz Meshkatian; 5. 1996, acquisition of part of sciences relating to composing before Professor Kazem Davoudian. Music Teaching Records: Teaching playing santur and the

Mehdi Rostami was born in Kermanshah, Iran. At the age of six he began to learn to play the setar with Siavash Nourpour. He studied the advanced repertory of Persian classical music with maestros Mohammadreza Lotfi and Hossein Alizadeh and took masterclasses with Kayhan Kalhor. Today, Mehdi is an accomplished musician and setar player. His performance shows a profound grasp of the tradition, while as an improviser he freely experiments and transcends the limits of the purely classical. He uses the instrument’s full register and expressive possibilities, creating a fresh and elaborate atmosphere.

I am a passionate musician, instrument maker, teacher, and documentary filmmaker from the northeast of Iran, Khorasan. From the age of six, I have studied and played Dotar, an ancient Iranian and Afghani instrument. I had my first live performance when I was only eight years old. Since then, I have been regularly invited to perform on stage inside and outside Iran. I had the honor to learn this instrument from some of the greatest Dotar players and musicians in Iran. Since then I have undertaken a project to document and preserve the oral traditions regarding their skills as a means of cultural preservation. T

Composer, Multi-instrumentalist (Tar, Setar, Rabab, Uod), Music instructor (from 1996) Studied with Maestro Houshang Zarif, Maestro Hossein Alizadeh and Maestro Dariuosh Talaie. Relevant Experience Member of the Hamavayan Ensemble for the first joint performance of Mr. Jivan Gasparyan (from Armenia) and Mr. Hossein Alizadeh called "Endless Vision", nominated for the Grammy Awards in 2006. Member of the Hamavayan for the last eight years, performances include the "Novel Mystery" concert in Tehran (1996) and for the Tokyo Summer Music Festival (2006). Contribu

Clarinetist Robin Seletsky is a classically trained performer who is equally at home with the klezmer style.  She lives in upstate New York and recently retired as principal clarinetist with the Glimmerglass Opera Festival after 32 years.  She is a graduate of the New England Conservatory, later attended the Juilliard School, and is a former Assistant Principal Clarinetist of the San Antonio Symphony.  Although she grew up with the sounds of klezmer from listening to her father, Harold Seletsky (“The Prez of Klez”), it wasn’t until the midst of the klezmer revival that she began h

As a performer, Kousic Sen is a tabla player whose intense and energetic performances add a new dimension to the traditional concert experience. His rhythmic mastery has become known around the globe through his performances with leading musicians in many of the world’s most famous venues. Born into a musical family, Kousic is the proud representative of the Banaras Gharana and is one of the foremost tabla players of his generation. He has accompanied many notable musicians and dancers throughout India and is a regular participant in major music festivals around the world. He has toured extensi

Yasamin was born in Tehran on November 4, 1992. She graduated from Tehran music school and started to learning “Oud” under instruction of her first teacher Mohammad Firouzi In 2005 for six years in Tehran music school. In the following years, she benefited from the guidance of Shahram Gholami and Hossein Behrouzinia and she learned Radif of Persian classical music with Darioush Talaei and Siamak Jahangiri. Nowadays she is student of undergraduate of music in Tehran university. Yasamin has played for diverse bands of music such as “New music orchestra” (conducted by Alireza Mashayekhi) ,

Maryam Soroushnasab, Tar and Setar player since 1992. BA in music from Tehran Art University. Got certificates for teaching music to children from Pars institute in Tehran and Motzarteom University of Salzburg. Performed in different music groups and ensembles; her latest performance was a repertoire by Amir Eslami as Tar soloist with Ambelside Symphony Orchestra in Vancouver. "Reyhan" and "oinar", music albums arranged by Maryam Soroushnasab, released by Ava Khorshid Records in Tehran.

Hooman Tootoonchian is an entrepreneur and musician who helps interested students and professional instructors across the globe connect diverse cultures through their music.  In 2009, a new chapter unfolded as Hooman ventured into the realm of music education, with a particular focus on teaching children. Embracing the Orff method with enthusiasm, he honed its techniques and embarked on a journey to share the joy of music with young learners, igniting their creative sparks. Driven by an unyielding passion for music and teaching, Hooman co-founded the esteemed online music academy, Rhythmitica, in Canad

Payam Yousefi is a kamancheh player, composer, educator and music scholar. He received his MA in Ethnomusicology from UCLA in 2015 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate and Teaching Fellow in the Music Department at Harvard University. He has extensively studied both the vocal and instrumental radif-s of Classical Persian Music. Payam was trained in avaz, and javab-avaz under the tutelage of Masumeh Mehrali, and studied the canonic and contemporary repertoire of the kamancheh under the direction of Negar Kharkan and Ardeshir Kamkar. In Iran Payam was a lecturer in the music department of the Tehran University

Pipa（Chinese lute） player, Ph.D. Candidate in Ethnomusicology, Central Conservatory of Music; Columnists on guan cha website.（www.guancha.cn） ·Received Master and Bachelor degree in Pipa performance from Central Conservatory of Music. ·Member of the Educational and Teaching Research Project---- "Classified Textbooks of music performance majors for English course" Research and performance experience: ·The recording of the electronic music "Lane String" (Composed by Wang Xiao) won first place in Kong Audio/median's electronic music creation. &middo

Pegah Zohdi was born in Tehran on December 31, 1992. She graduated from Tehran music school in 2010. She has been the first winner of Santoor playing in the first and second festival of music schools, 2005 and 2006, Tehran, Iran. At the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, getting an MA degree in music and at this time, she learned Radif of Persian classical music with Dariush Talaei and Majid Kiani. She also learned the details and delicates of playing and music with Siamak Aghaei. Pegah has collaborated with diverse music bands such as "Raha" (Santoor quintet, composed and led by Siam