Mazyar Kashian

Mazyar Kashian is a composer whose work interrogates the potential of pitch, from fine inflections and subtle gradations to complex harmonic structures, while rigorously exploring form as an emergent property of internal structural logic. His music examines how pitch, time, and perception intersect.

His compositions have been performed by leading ensembles including Ensemble Musikfabrik, Leise Dröhnung, Duo Auxesis, and Trio Abstrakt, and presented at international platforms such as ACHT BRÜCKEN, MaerzMusik (Berliner Festspiele), TRIETHNÉS Festival, Nacht van de Verbeelding, Festival Contrasti, and Morgenland Festival.

Born in Tehran, Kashian was immersed in Persian classical music through formal training in the Radif repertoire on the kamancheh at the Maktabkhaneh of Mirza Abdollah, alongside early studies in piano and composition at the Tehran Music Conservatory. His musical voice was later honed in Cologne, where he worked and studied with Johannes Schöllhorn, Brigitta Muntendorf, and Miroslav Srnka at the Cologne University of Music, while deepening his analytical craft through focused research that resulted in a study of Ligeti’s Hamburg Concerto and comparative analyses of Enno Poppe’s Prozession and Körper. His artistic perspective has also been shaped by masterclasses with Mathias Spahlinger, Georg Friedrich Haas, Simon Steen-Andersen, and Enno Poppe.

Beyond composition, Kashian maintains an active engagement with music theory and archival research. He has held a DAAD-funded research residency at the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel, where he investigated the sketch materials and compositional processes of Conlon Nancarrow and Helmut Lachenmann. He lives and works in Cologne.