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Mahsa klippebilde_Foto Atabak Elyasi_1.jpeg

Hello

Mahsa Vahdat is an award-winning, prominent Iranian singer, composer and cultural activist. Dedicated to both her personal lifelong, musical and artistic path and the greater cause of freedom of expression. Her artistic work has offered audiences around the globe a deeper appreciation of Iranian poetry and music.

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My Story

Born in 1973 in Tehran, she received her B.A. in Music from the Tehran University of Arts and
learned Persian traditional music with different masters. Since 1995 she has performed as an
independent singer and musician in many concerts and festivals in the world. She appeared on
stage with her sister Marjan Vahdat in many concerts.
 

Mahsa Vahdat with her profound command and vision on Persian music treasury has developed a
highly personal style of performance, rooted in Persian classical and regional vocal music
traditions and complex system of modes, melodic motives, and ornamentation infused with
contemporary and innovative expressions and influences.


Her many performance and recording projects include collaborations with many of the world's most
acclaimed musicians including Marjan Vahdat, Mighty Sam McClain, Kronos Quartet, Tord
Gustavson, Atabak Elyasi , Teatr Zar, SKRUK Choir, Kitka and countless others. Through creative
dialogues with her collaborators, and explorations as an unaccompanied soloist, she has developed a
diverse, unique, and wide-ranging repertoire. Creative dialogue has been the core of her artistic
path.


Following her participation in the album Lullabies from the Axis of Evil (2004), Mahsa together
with her sister Marjan started a long lasting collaboration with the Norwegian record label Kirkelig
Kulturverksted (KKV) and Norwegian producer and poet Erik Hillestad. This collaboration led to a
worldwide release of a series of award wining and critically acclaimed records.


Without being visible in her own society because of restrictions of female solo voice after Islamic
Revolution in 1979 in Iran, she and her sister Marjan Vahdat have continuous contact with a large
audience who appreciates their art, both in Iran and abroad.


For Mahsa, artistic practice, creative freedom, and humanitarian principles are closely intertwined.
She is an extremely effective cultural worker who utilizes the emotive power of her voice to raise
awareness of suffering and injustice in the world, while simultaneously delivering messages of
hope, beauty and transparency.


In 2007 Mahsa was chosen as one of the ambassadors of Freemuse Organization, an independent
international organization that advocates freedom of expression for musicians and composers
worldwide. In 2010, she was granted the Freemuse Award.


She has developed a long and intense pedagogical experience in teaching classical Persian singing
for years for Iranian and non Iranian Students and led many projects with her students as mentor.
She has contributed to the empowerment of women by encouraging them to give voice to their life
experiences and she has been a role model for many young Iranian female singers in the complex
socio-Political environment of post-Islamic Revolution Iran.

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