Mazyar Kashian

Mazyar Kashian is a composer whose work focuses on pitch in its most extended and nuanced sense—ranging from subtle inflections and fine gradations to harmonic complexity—and on form as a process of internal logic and structural exploration. Through this dual focus, his compositions investigate how pitch, form, and time interact to create meaningful musical experiences. His music has been performed by ensembles such as Ensemble Musikfabrik, Leise Dröhnung, Duo Auxesis, and Trio Abstrakt, and featured at international festivals including ACHT BRÜCKEN, MaerzMusik – Berliner Festspiele and FESTIVAL CONTRASTI. He studied composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with Johannes Schöllhorn, Brigitta Muntendorf, and Miroslav Srnka, where he earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, along with a minor in piano. Further studies led to two additional Master’s degrees: one in Tonsatz, focusing on György Ligeti’s Hamburg Concerto, and another in Musicology, where he conducted a comparative analysis of Enno Poppe’s pieces Prozession and Körper. Originally from Tehran, Kashian began his musical education at the Tehran Music Conservatory, where he studied cello, piano, and composition. He also trained in the Radif repertoire on the kamancheh at the Maktabkhaneh of Mirza Abdollah, grounding his musical thinking in the structural and modal intricacies of Persian classical music. His artistic development has been enriched through masterclasses with Mathias Spahlinger, Georg Friedrich Haas, Simon Steen-Andersen, and Enno Poppe. In addition to his compositional work, he maintains a strong interest in theory and analysis. He was awarded a DAAD scholarship for a research residency at the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel, where he studied the music of Conlon Nancarrow and Helmut Lachenmann.