Mahan Esfahani (Persian: ماهان اصفهانی ) is an Iranian-American keyboardist; he is the first harpsichordist named as a BBC New Generation Artist. As a concerto soloist, recitalist, and collaborative musician, he has gained an international reputation on a variety of early keyboards
Born in 1984, Esfahani studied musicology and theory at Stanford University under the mentorship of George Houle; later, he continued his harpsichord studies with the Australian harpsichordist Peter Watchorn in Boston with the Italian organist Lorenzo Ghielmi in Milan.[1]
Having quickly gained an international reputation, played many significant concerts,[2] [3] been praised as "exceptionally gifted" (The Times) and for "the virtuosity of a master" (Keyboard Magazine).,[1] currently he is as Artist-in-Residence at New College, Oxford. He made his Wigmore Hall debut in 2009 as a concerto soloist with The English Concert, and in the same year performed at the BBC Proms' chamber series and made extensive recordings of concerto and solo repertoire for the harpsichord for BBC Radio 3.
Respected for gaining attention for the harpsichord as a concert instrument, Mahan Esfahani is known for his criticism of what he perceives as the many dogmas of the early music movement. He approves, for example, of doubling octaves in the bass.,[4] and works actively with modern instrument players in re-creating the sonic world of earlier music. He is also well-known for his advocacy of contemporary music and has played numerous new commissions.
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