Parviz Meshkatian
A prominent figure in Iranian Music
Parviz Meshkatian
Parviz Meshkatian was born in 1955 in the city of Neishabour. He started his musical training at the age of six with his father, Hassan Meshkatian, who played tar, santoor and was also familiar with violin and setar.
Parviz Meshkatian entered the conservatory of music at the early age and studied theory and technique with the masters Noor Ali Boroomand, Dariush Safvat, Mohammad Taghi Massoudieh, and Mehdi Barkeshli. He chose the Radif of Mirza Abdollah as his main topic of research. After finishing academic studies, Meshkatian continued his study of music with masters like Abdollah Davami, Saied Hormozi and Yousef forootan. He won the first prize of Barbad competition in the field of santoor. Meshkatian taught santoor at the Center for the Preservation and Dissemination of Music where he also served as ensemble leader.
Meshkatian was one of the founding members of the Aref Ensemble, founded in 1977. He was also one of the founding members of the Chavosh Artistic and Cultural Foundation. The Chavosh foundation has played a major role in the development of Iranian music in the recent years.
Meshkatian tours Europe and Asia and regularly performs in France, Germany, England, Sweden, Netherlands, and Denmark. In the spring of 1982 he published the book titled "Twenty Pieces for Santoor". In spring of 1992 Meshkatian and Aref Ensemble won the first prize of the Spirit of the Earth Festival in England. His Collaboration with Mohammad Reza Shajarian in some fifteen years did produce some of the most beautiful recordings of contemporary classical music of Iran. While continuing his work as a composer and a researcher, Meshkatian was involved with teaching music at the Tehran University.
Meshkatian passed away on September 21, 2009, in Tehran, of a heart attack.