Degar Sobh Ast
Original composition for tar and ensemble. A meditation on dawn and renewal in the radif tradition.
Behdad Behzadi
بهداد بهزادی
Composer, conductor, and tarist. Trained in the radif — the canonical body of Iranian classical music, learned by memory before it is ever performed.
- Based in
- London, United Kingdom
- Available for
- 2026 — 2027 season
The instrument
The tar — the long-necked lute that carries Iranian classical music's most demanding repertoire.
Listen
Selected works from across the catalogue. The full discography continues on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.
Selected performances
Full channelAsheghaneh-ha
Persian love songs reimagined. Vocals, tar, and string ensemble.
Banouye Irani
A tribute to the women of Iran, scored for traditional Persian instruments and contemporary strings.
Baraye Azadi
For freedom. Setting Shervin Hajipour's anthem into a Persian-classical arrangement.
Tehran, exile, London
For more than three decades, Behdad Behzadi has practised Iranian classical music in the radif tradition: a repertoire passed teacher to student across generations, carried forward as both archive and instrument.
His work has been political from the start of his independent career. In 2003 the Iranian state banned him from performing or recording inside the country, and he built his career outside it — separated for much of that time from his family.
Now in London, reunited, he performs the catalogue he could not perform at home, alongside new work for ensemble and voice.
Each note is a whisper of those who were silenced. Each melody carries the hope they could not speak.
Available for performances and collaborations
For booking, festival programming, recording collaborations, or press requests, write directly. Include dates, venue, and the kind of performance you have in mind.
- Based in
- London, United Kingdom
- Response
- Within 48 hours, most days