Press kit

Behdad Behzadi is an Iranian classical composer, conductor, and tarist. Born in Tehran, he trained from a young age in the tar, the long-necked lute that carries Iranian classical music's most demanding repertoire.

His training centred on the radif: the canonical body of Iranian classical music passed teacher to student over generations, learned by memory before it is ever performed. He emerged as one of the most accomplished musicians of his cohort, with a political voice that has defined his work from the start of his independent career.

In 2003, the Iranian state banned him from performing or recording inside the country. He continued composing under that prohibition, then from outside it — unwelcome to the state, separated for much of that time from his family, building a body of work shaped by absence.

Now based in London, reunited with his family, Behdad Behzadi performs the catalogue he could not perform at home, alongside new work for voice, strings, and Persian classical ensemble. He continues to teach, record, conduct, and tour across Europe.