ArtistInfo

Bijan Chemirani

perc, cjn, *1979 IR
World and Folk

The handsome cadet of one of Iran’s most famous musical families, Bijan Chemirani began his professional career while still in secondary school. He learned to play the zarb with his father Djamchid Chemirani and his brother Keyvan. Encouraged by them, he began at a very early age to work in concert and make recordings with musicians such as Ross Daly, Dariush Talai, Ballaké Sissoko, Jean Guihen Queyras, Sylvain Luc, Sting, Socrates Sinopoulos, Serge Teyssot Gai, Renaud Garcia Fons… He also learned to play the Iranian kamancheh repertoire with Cyrus Rangbar. At the age of twenty-two he recorded his first album, ‘Gulistan, jardin des roses’, in Athens and Marseille, with Ross Daly. The son of a famous zarb master, his subtle percussions have graced the works of several traditional musicians in his adopted homeland of France. With the release of his album “Eos”, Chemirani launched into an ambitious solo career. His first steps have confirmed the 23-year-old’s nigh scientific ability to coax out rhythms from his zarb. Despite critical praise for his first album, he has continued to collaborate with the likes of Ross Daly, Dupain and his old Greek friend Stelios Petrakis. Chemirani ensemble is a notable Persian classical music ensemble. The group is made of Chemirani family: Bijan Chemirani, Djamchid Chemirani, Keyvan Chemirani, Maryam Chemirani. In 1988, the Chemirani Trio (Bijan, Keyvan and Jamshid) was born and their special chemistry and peerless virtuosity has firmly established the zarb as one of the world’s foremost percussion instruments. Jamsid Chemirani was born in Tehran in 1942. he has studied the tombak since the age of eight. His teacher was Hossein Tehrani. Under his demanding tutelage, Chemirani made rapid progress and soon became a brilliant player. Since his arrival in Paris in 1961 he has taught at the Centre d'Etudes de Musique Orientale in the Paris Sorbonne Institut de Musicologie. He has performed with eminent Iranian musicians Dariush Safvat, Daryush Talai and Madjid Kiani. Born in Paris in 1968, Keyvan Chemirani started learning the zarb at the age of 13. Taught by his father, he soon assimilated the traditional technique. He studied for his masters in mathematics until 1989, when he launched an international career as soloist and accompanist. Bijan Chemirani began studying zarb early on with his father Djamchid and his brother Keyvan. He also plays the daf, riqq, and cajon. He has issued an album, Gulistan:Rose Garden along with Ross Daly. Since their inception as rhythmic masters, the trio Chemirani have branched out (both individually and as a group) inter-culturally. They've recorded and performed with folk and classical music genii from around the world. Although the Indian tabla have been long-known for density/diversity of sound, Keyvan's Heartbeat of the Orient album features tracks demonstrating the comparability of the Persian tombac to the Indian tabla.

Instruments

• Percussion
• Cajón
• Tamborine

Genres

• World
• Folk
• Jazz
• Classical

Plays With