Mehdi Khayami
Mehdi Khayami, was born in Abadan (Iran) in 1980. He began studying music with his grand father at the age of 5. He studied piano with Andreh Moradian, Gagik Babayan, and composition with Kambiz Roshanravan. At the same time, he studied Setar, an Iranian traditional instrument, with Behrooz Hemati.
In 2006 he moved to Milan where he graduated in the first and second level diploma (bachelor and master degree) of composition with the highest final grade 110/110, Cum Laude with Alessandro Solbiati at the Conservatory “G.Verdi” of Milan. In 2013 he was awarded the Diploma of Specialization in the composition course held by Ivan Fedele at the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome.
He has attended composition master classes with Heinz Holliger, José Manuel López López, Azio Corghi, Gabriele manca, and Robert Pascal, as active participant.
His compositions have been performed in many important festivals and concert seasons in Venice (Biennale-International Festival of Contemporary Music, Teatro la Fenice, Festival Azur, A.GI.MUS, Maratona Contemporanea), Buenos Aires (Ciclo de Musica Contemporanea), Tehran (Fadjr International Music Festival, Tehran International Contemporary Music Festival, Vahdat hall, Roudaki hall, City Theatre), Reggio Emilia (Festival Aperto), Milan (Teatro dal Verme-Symphony Season, Listz-Mahler Festival, Sala Verdi and Sala Puccini of Conservatory, Rondò season, Piccolo Teatro Grassi, Auditorium San Fedele, Milano Haus Music-spring season), Paris (Auditorium du Collège Franco-Britannique, ACIMC), Rome (Parco Della Musica, Maratona Contemporanea, Nuovi Talenti), Amsterdam (Theaterschool De), Berlin (Turkisches Theater), Cologne (Arkadas Theater), Lecce (summer symphonic season, Teatro Paolo Grassi, Palazzo dei Celestini), Pavia (Opera Season and Theatre, Teatro Fraschini), Shiraz (Hafez hall, Ehsan hall), Folgaria (My Ivitalis Music Festival), Lodi (Auditorium of Lodi).
Kamanche Concerto, his first portrait CD, released in 2018 on Stradivarius label for the Times Future Series. The pieces on this CD have been recorded by Divertimento Ensemble of Milan, the soprano Lorna Windsor and the Kamanche soloist Saman Samimi, under the direction of the artistic director of Divertimento Ensemble, Sandro Gorli.
He was commissioned to compose music for: Fondazione Teatro la Fenice of Venice, European Contemporary Orchestra, Divertimento Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra of Lecce, I Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra, Ex nuovo Ensemble, Parsian String Orchestra, ACIMC of Paris, A.Gi.MUS Venezia, Ume Duo Ensemble, Sirius Ensemble of Buenos Aires , Nivak Ensemble of Tehran.
He has received various awards including the first prize of the Hausmann award 2013 in Rome. He won the prize of E.C.O 2013-2015 (European Contemporary Orchestra) composition competition. He has received two prizes for his music written for the theatre in Iran. “Abadan” his piece for orchestra has been selected by the jury among the works for the Symphony Orchestra “Giuseppe Verdi” of the Milan conservatory. “Sellat II” has been selected by the jury of ACIMC 2014 Call for Scores in Paris. He was among the finalists for the 14th edition of the MATA festival in New York (650 composers were participated from all over the world), and between the candidates for the prize of Niccolò Castiglioni in Milan in 2011.
His works have been performed by I Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra, Lecce Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the Milan Conservatory “G.Verdi”, Divertimento Ensemble, Ex Novo Ensemble, Icarus Ensemble, Plurimo Ensemble, Sirius Ensemble, Secret Theatre Ensemble, Ensemble Novecento, Sandro Gorli, Massimo Quarta, Stefano Montanari, Carlo Rizzari, Fabiano Monica, Dario Garegnani, Maria Grazia Bellocchio, Lorna Windsor, Marco Fusi, Sonia Visentin, Karolina Öhman, Franco Venturini.
His compositions are published by Edizioni Suvini Zerboni-Sugar Music S.p.a in Milan and by ARS PUBLICA edition and has been broadcast on several radio and TV channels.