The lost Persia

Concert of Santur by Alireza Mortazavi.

He is an Iranian musician and composer, a master of santur, whose artistic research begins with Persian musical traditions to land on a personal and deeply contemporary language. His journey is not a stylistic fusion operation, but a transformation process: starting from the roots to find an autonomous voice capable of dialoguing with the present. After an initial training related to Persian classical music, Mortazavi deepened his theoretical and analytical path by studying Musicology in Cremona and later at the DAMS in Turin, contexts that have decisively contributed to the development of an open and transversal vision of music.

Through years of study, practice, and experimentation, he has built a recognizable style, in which the sound of the santur is liberated from formal boundaries and placed in contexts of improvisation, contemporary classical music, and meditative soundscapes. The music of Alireza Mortazavi is configured as a meeting space between memory and vision, tradition and contemporaneity, where each sound becomes an act of presence and research. It is characterized by a refined use of time, silence, and resonance, inviting deep and conscious listening.

Main albums: Now and Then (2004) – Hermes Records, Iran Clouds (2008) – Hermes Records, Iran Hamdelaneh (Intimate Dialogues) (2019) – Dark Companion Records Free Spirits (2022) – Dark Companion Records La Fille du Soleil (2025) – Dark Companion Records

These works represent the most significant stages of his artistic evolution, from the relationship with tradition to an open, essential, and contemporary sound writing. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with numerous internationally renowned musicians, including Markus Stockhausen, Franco Battiato, and Anja Lechner, participating in projects and concerts that span different cultures, languages, and musical forms.