Mehrdad Moshashaei

Mehrdad Moshashaei is one of the leading performers, researchers and teachers of the tanbur and the ritual music of the Yarsan (also known as Ahl-e Haqq, a mystical faith of western Iran), and has played an important role in introducing, teaching and promoting the maqam music of this part of Iran – music built on the maqams, the traditional melodic pieces of the tanbur repertoire – especially in the Sahneh and Guran school of tanbur playing.

Life and education

Mehrdad Moshashaei was born in Kermanshah into a family devoted to music and spirituality. As a teenager he became interested in the tanbur and learned its ancient maqams with eminent masters of the art such as Darvish Amir Hayati, Seyed Ghadamyar Hosseini and Seyed Ayaz Ghazvinei. Besides playing, he also has wide knowledge and great mastery of Yari kalam singing, the chanting of the kalams, the sacred hymns of the Yarsan.

Activities

He is one of the artists who have sought, through concerts, teaching workshops and field research, to record and document the oral traditions of tanbur music. Alongside teaching at arts centres, Moshashaei has also taken part in recording and performing a collection of mystical and ritual maqams.

Style and characteristics

His playing combines the ancient authenticity of the Sahneh school with a personal, research-based expression. He sees the tanbur not only as a musical instrument but as a means of zekr (the remembrance of God), spiritual wayfaring and inner connection with the Truth.

Works and research

Mehrdad Moshashaei has produced numerous audio recordings and research works on ritual music; among them:

• the performance of the collection Maqam-ha-ye Ayini-ye Yarsan (“The Ritual Maqams of the Yarsan”)

• recordings of ensemble works with mystical music groups in Iran and abroad

Standing

Mehrdad Moshashaei is one of the well-known contemporary figures in tanbur music and Yari culture, who has sought, with a scholarly and spiritual outlook, to preserve the musical heritage of his predecessors and pass it on to future generations.