Biography
Mehrnam Rastegari was born in 1991 in Iran, and her path to becoming a kamancheh virtuoso was anything but direct. She first encountered music at age 11, beginning with tombak (the Persian goblet drum) at a local music institute. It was there that she discovered the violin and noticed its deep kinship with the kamancheh — the Persian spike fiddle — which would become her life's instrument. She studied under two towering figures in Persian string music: Imamyar Hasanov, the Azerbaijani kamancheh master from Baku, and Ardeshir Kamkar, the celebrated Kurdish-Iranian musician from the legendary Kamkar musical family of Sanandaj. After only six months of formal training, she performed her first official concert — a remarkably compressed ascent that foreshadowed her exceptional talent.
Rastegari built a career performing at prestigious venues including the Fajr International Music Festival in Tehran before relocating to New York City in 2022, a move that coincided with Iran's "Woman Life Freedom" uprising. Based in Brooklyn, she quickly became a fixture in the global music scene, performing at WOMEX, GlobalFest, Pitchfork Music Festival, Le Guess Who?, and the United Nations as a member of the New York Arabic Orchestra. She founded two ensembles: her Traditional Persian Band, which honors the Women Life Freedom movement by programming music from censored Iranian artists, and Chogan, a Middle Eastern psychedelic rock group that blends kamancheh with electric guitar, fretless bass, drums, and electronics. Her 2025 debut album Dislocated Pulse — seven tracks exploring exile, homesickness, and joy through Persian microtonal music fused with psychedelic rock — announced her as a singular compositional voice. She has also composed scores for over ten films, winning Best Original Score at the Melbourne City Independent Film Awards.
Rastegari's musical philosophy bridges worlds deliberately: she has stated that "the most valuable arts are those which most people with different languages can feel connected to." A recipient of support from the Artistic Freedom Initiative and a member of the Joe's Pub Working Group at the Public Theater, she also teaches virtual kamancheh and Persian violin lessons through Studio Muse Music, extending access to an instrument for which few teachers exist outside specialized communities. A TEDx speaker and Asia Society Asia Game Changer honoree, she stands as one of the most visible advocates for Persian traditional music in the contemporary global arts scene.
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Fun Facts
- She started her musical journey on tombak (Persian goblet drum), not a string instrument — her route to becoming a kamancheh virtuoso was entirely self-directed after discovering the instrument at a music institute.
- After only six months of formal kamancheh study, she performed her first professional public concert — an unusually rapid progression that her teachers and peers noted.
- She contributed violin performance to the soundtrack of Assassin's Creed: Mirage (2023), embedding Persian traditional music into one of the world's most popular video game franchises.
- She performed with Jon Batiste singing 'Baraye' — the protest song that became the anthem of Iran's 2022 uprising, written by Shervin Hajipour while he was briefly free before his arrest by Iranian authorities.
Musical Connections
Mentors/Influences
- Imamyar Hasanov - Azerbaijani kamancheh master from Baku; one of Rastegari's two primary teachers on kamancheh [Early 2010s]
- Ardeshir Kamkar - Kurdish-Iranian kamancheh master from Sanandaj, member of the legendary Kamkar musical family; one of Rastegari's primary teachers [Early 2010s]
Key Collaborators
- Jon Batiste - Performed together at the 'Eyes on Iran' art installation at Roosevelt Island, NYC, where Batiste played piano and Rastegari sang protest anthem 'Baraye'; also shared the stage at Bill Gates Goalkeepers 2024 [2023–2024]
- Panagiotis Andreou - Bassist and regular collaborator, featured on debut album Dislocated Pulse and live performances with Chogan [2020s]
- Martin Shamoonpour - Daf and dayereh percussionist, collaborator in both her traditional Persian band and studio recordings [2020s]
- Rachid Halihal - Oud player in her Traditional Persian Band (NYC) [2020s]
Artists Influenced
- Young Iranian, Azerbaijani, and Turkish musicians - Rastegari actively mentors young musicians from Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkey, guiding them in blending traditional and contemporary approaches to Persian string music [2020s]
Connection Network
External Links
References
Heard on WWOZ
Mehrnam Rastegari has been played 2 times on WWOZ 90.7 FM, New Orleans' jazz and heritage station.