Iranian singer Mahsa Vahdat was born October 29, 1973 in Tehran, Iran. She is a leading Persian classical vocalist and world music artist.
Mahsa Vahdat has a deep knowledge of Iranian poetry and music and has presented these traditions to international audiences throughout the world. She has developed her personal style based on Persian classical and regional folk vocal music traditions.
Since 1995, Mahsa has performed worldwide. Although she is not visible in her own society because of restrictions applied to female solo vocalists after the 1979 revolution in Iran, Mahsa and her sister Marjan have continuous contact with a large audience, both in Iran and abroad. Mahsa has released over 10 albums, four of them together with her sister Marjan.
Mahsa Vahdat and her sister Marjan started a long-lasting collaboration with Norwegian record label Kirkelig Kulturverksted (KKV) in 2003 with the release of “Lullabies from the Axis of Evil”.
Since 2007, Mahsa has been an ambassador of Freemuse, a freedom of artistic expression and cultural diversity advocacy non-governmental organization.
In 2009, Mahsa collaborated with the late American blues and soul artist Mighty Sam McClain. Mahsa and Mighty Sam recorded an album of duets, performed in English and Farsi titled “Scent of Reunion – Love Duets Across Civilizations”.
In 2010, she was granted the Freemuse Award. Her albums have received many awards, among them The German Records Critic Award in 2016.
In 2019, Mahsa and her sister Marjan released “Placeless”, a collaboration with Kronos Quartet. Commenting on the new release, Kronos’ artistic director, founder and violinist David Harrington stated, “We’re always trying to learn as much as we can, and now, recording with Mahsa and Marjan, we sometimes are able to make sounds we have never before heard from our instruments.”
“This recording is a milestone for us,” said Mahsa Vahdat. “The wonderful musicians in Kronos Quartet have given our music new dimensions. Our lives are constantly changing in relation to time and place. Our home and where we belong – this is all over the globe. By performing poems from Persia’s classical era, we have been coming closer and closer to finding an organic connection between what we express in our art and the way we live.”
Mahsa has three decades of pedagogical experience in teaching classical Persian music to Iranian, and non-Iranian students alike, and has mentored her students on a variety of wide-ranging collaborative projects.
On June 19, 2020 Mahsa released the album “Enlighten the Night”.
Discography:
Lullabies from the Axis of Evil (Kirkelig Kulturverksted, 2003)
Songs from a Persian Garden, with Marjan Vahdat (Kirkelig Kulturverksted, 2007)
I Am Eve, with Marjan Vahdat and Atabak Elyasi (Kirkelig Kulturverksted, 2008)
Scent of Reunion: Love Duets Across Civilizations, with Mighty Sam McClain (Kirkelig Kulturverksted, 2010)
In the Mirror of Wine (I Vinens Speil), with SKRUK (Kirkelig Kulturverksted, 2010)
Twinklings of Hope, with Marjan Vahdat (Kirkelig Kulturverksted, 2012)
A Deeper Tone of Longing: Love Duets Across Civilizations, with Mighty Sam McClain (Kirkelig Kulturverksted, 2012)
Traces of an Old Vineyard (Kirkelig Kulturverksted, 2015)
The Sun Will Rise (Kirkelig Kulturverksted, 2016)
Endless Path, with Coşkun Karademir (Kirkelig Kulturverksted, 2017)
Placeless, with Kronos Quartet and & Marjan Vahdat (Kirkelig Kulturverksted, 2019)
Enlighten the Night (Kirkelig Kulturverksted, 2020)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.