Shahriyar Jamshidi

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Shahriyar Jamshidi, an illustrious Kurdish Kamānche (four-stringed-spiked-fiddle) player, composer, vocalist, with pronounced cultural background, is the founder of the Dilan Chamber Ensemble and co-founder of Kamancello. He is a graduate of Tehran University of Art and a former artist-in-residence at Banff Centre.

Shahriyar has devoted his artistic profession to the preservation and transmission of the Kurdish musical heritage. He’s also well-known for his creative and masterful kamānche improvisations, both as a soloist and in ensembles.

He has performed at numerous Iranian music venues including Roudaki Hall and had been invited for interviews and live performances on several radio and TV channels including, Kurdistan TV, The Voice of America Kurdish, and CBC.

Since settling in Canada in 2012, Shahriyar has consistently sought new musical languages, thereby crossing cultures with his Kamancheh recitals. He has already performed at International Society for Improvised Music (ISIM), Switzerland and Canada; High-Fest, Armenia; Festival du Monde Arabe de Montréal; Ontario Contact; 33rd World Conference of International Society for Music Education, Azerbaijan; University of Minneapolis School of Music, United State; Cello Biennial, Netherlands; Canadian Opera Company; University of Glasgow, UK; and collaborated with Windsor (2019) and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (2024).

Shahriyar’s past releases contain five solo albums (Alvanati; Call of the Mountains; A Yellow Flower; The Lullaby of A Nomad; and My Sunset-Land ROJAVA) as well as Meet Me In Tangier; HiRUDiN; Kamancello; Voyage, and Of Shadows.

In addition, Shahriyar Jamshidi has received awards from Canada Arts Council; International Society for Music Education ISME, Netherlands and Australia; Imagine fund, University of Minneapolis School of Music, the United States; SOCAN Foundation; Toronto Arts Council, and Ontario Arts Council.
Toronto, ON
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Language(s): English, , Kurdish, Farsi

This individual offers online programming

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Facilitates Group Lessons

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  • Music

    Music Composition, Other

Featured Project

My Sunset-Land ROJAVA

“My Sunset-Land, ROJAVA” is retelling the tale of a heart-sore nomad (a Kamānche) from Kurdistan, where tunes are born in her every brief stop, she takes for a nap while passing the unwanted confines of the torn land of the Kurds. Every morning before sunrise settles, Kamānche abandons the spot leaving a newborn Stran (song)...

My Sunset-Land, ROJAVA is the latest solo recording of an illustrious Kurdish-Canadian Kamānche player, composer, and vocalist Shahriyar Jamshidi, it contains 9 tracks. The cover photo of the album is illustrated by the acclaimed Kurdish visual artist and journalist Zehra Doğan. 

This project is dedicated to all the brave women who lost their lives to defeat ISIS and liberate Rojava (West of Kurdistan) in Syria in 2015. The profits of My Sunset-Land, ROJAVA project are contributed to support suffering Yazidi (Êzidî) women from the Yazidi genocide in Iraq (2014-2017).

Kamancello

Kamancello, comprised of Shahriyar Jamshidi (kamanche) and Raphael Weinroth-Browne (cello) blurs musical genre conventions with their highly evocative improvised performances. The scope of their creations ranges from soulful and emotive to incendiary and intense, and their sound has been described as being "totally entrancing.” Having made waves with at Montreal's Place des Arts for Festival du Monde Arabe and Toronto’s Small World Music Centre, Kamancello have just recently released their groundbreaking self-titled debut album available through bandcamp.

Profile last updated: May 27 2024

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