Shahriyar Jamshidi 

a Kurdish Kamancheh (four-stringed-spiked-fiddle) player, composer, vocalist, founder of the Dilan Chamber Ensemble and member of Kamancello, is a graduate of Tehran University of Art and a former artist-in-residence at Banff Centre. Shahriyar has devoted his artistic career to the preservation and transmission of the Kurdish musical heritage. He is well known for his creative and masterful kamancheh improvisations, both as a soloist and in ensembles. Shahriyar has performed at numerous Iranian music venues including Roudaki Hall and had been invited for interviews and live performances on several channels including, Kurdistan TV, The Voice of America Kurdish and CBC.

Since settling in Canada in 2012, he has consistently sought new musical languages, thereby crossing cultures with his Kamancheh recitals. He has already performed at Toronto’s Tirgan Festival, 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 and Cello Biennial, Netherlands and Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Canada.

Shahriyar’s past releases include 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, Kamancello’s self-titled debut album, Kamancello II: Voyage and Of Shadows.

In addition, Shahriyar Jamshidi has received awards from Canada Arts Council, International Society for Music Education ISME, SOCAN Foundation, Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council.