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Photo by Shah Kaman
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Photo courtesy of the ANA News Agency by Ali Haddadi Asl
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Photo by Greg Sykes
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Photo by Allard Willemse
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Photo courtesy of the ANA News Agency by Ali Haddadi Asl
Kayhan Kalhor: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Kayhan Kalhor on “Silent City”
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Photo by Allard Willemse
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Photo by Allard Willemse
Kayhan Kalhor and the Rembrandt Frerichs Trio “The Opening”

“When Mr. Kalhor performed, it sounded like a conversation among several ­instruments, with the varying timbres at times evoking the wailing pleas of disconsolate lovers. From a simple, muted beginning, the music became more intense and embellished, as ornate melodies and ornaments unfolded with calligraphic detail above ostinato bass patterns.”

The New York Times

“It has a tenderness that’s not personal; it’s ­anthropological. ­Kayhan is the master of that ­instrument…musically, ­emotionally and culturally. The civilization that he represents is very ­powerful, and he’s at the top.”

Osvaldo Golijov

“You can get lost in this music in a wonderful way. It roams through ­far-flung provenances and ages…­mystically tinted, mysterious sounds, which echo in the ­inclined listener for a long time.”

JazzThing (for "It's Still Autumn" with the Rembrandt Frerichs Trio)

“Extra-worldly beautiful…The compactness of this music, the merging of two completely different cultures and the way in which it is performed is a perpetual surprise.”

JazzNu (for "It's Still Autumn" with the Rembrandt Frerichs Trio)

“The four soloists — [including Kayhan Kalhor] — delivered technical wizardry matched with expressive heat. Alsop dovetailed the orchestral side of things nimbly and drew colorful playing from the BSO.”

The Baltimore Sun

“…Kalhor’s ­kamancheh ­entered a moment later with a barely-­perceptible murmur that ­abruptly soared into an ­ascending solo line over ­Erzincan’s gauzy accompaniment. With the confident air of a star tenor and the piercing ­earnestness of an imam’s call to prayer, the ­kamancheh’s sound emanated an ­expressiveness in ­Kalhor’s hands that brought a perceptible awe over the audience of expectant devotees and ­curious novices.”

Classical Voice North Carolina

Three-time GRAMMY nominee Kayhan Kalhor is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso on the kamancheh, who through his many musical collaborations has been instrumental in popularizing Persian music in the West and is a creative force in today’s music scene. His performances of traditional Persian music and multiple collaborations have attracted audiences around the globe. He has studied the music of Iran’s many regions, in particular those of Khorason and Kordestan, and has toured the world as a soloist with various ensembles and orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de Lyon. He is co-founder of the renowned ensembles Dastan, Ghazal: Persian & Indian Improvisations and Masters of Persian Music. Kayhan Kalhor has composed works for Iran’s most renowned vocalists Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Shahram Nazeri and has also performed and recorded with Iran’s greatest instrumentalists. He has composed music for television and film and was most recently featured on the soundtrack of Francis Ford Copolla’s Youth Without Youth in a score that he collaborated on with Osvaldo Golijov. In 2004, Kayhan was invited by American composer John Adams to give a solo recital at Carnegie Hall as part of his Perspectives Series 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 was a founding member of the Silkroad Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma and his compositions appear on several of the Ensemble’s albums.