Shahrdad Rohani, also known as Shardad Rohani (; born 27 May 1954), is an Iranian-American composer, violinist/pianist, and conductor. His style is contemporary and he is well known for composing and conducting classical, instrumental, adult contemporary/new age, film soundtrack as well as pop music. He was the principal conductor and music director of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra from 2016 to 2020.
Early life He was born in 1954 in Tehran, Iran. His father, Reza Rohani, was an accomplished musician and as a result, Shahrdad and all of his brothers including Anoushiravan Rohani and Ardeshir Rohani followed in their father's footsteps. He began playing the piano at age 6, like many of his other brothers. As a child, he was a student to a well-known Persian violinist, Ebrahim Rouhifar. At age 10 he attended the Persian National Music Conservatory of Tehran. By 1975, he was studying Composition and Orchestra Conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In 1984, Rohani moved to Los Angeles.
Musical career
From 1987 until 1991, Rohani served as the music director and conductor of the Committee on the Arts (COTA) symphony orchestra in Los Angeles. He has appeared as a guest conductor with several prestigious orchestras, including London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras and many others.
Rohani arranged and conducted a sixty-piece orchestra to supplement Yanni's keyboard compositions during the Yanni Live at the Acropolis concert in 1993 – an open-air concert with the London Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra on the Acropolis, Athens, Greece. Yanni Live at the Acropolis was acclaimed by both critics and audiences and became the most widely viewed program ever shown on Public Television in the United States and is the second best-selling music video of all time.
In 1994, he became a US citizen.
Rohani was commissioned in 1998 by the government of Thailand and the committee of the 13th Asian Games to compose and conduct the music for opening ceremonies. The composition became the most popular song of the Asian Games.
Discography
Solo albums +YearTitleNotes1977Eternity1994Beauty of Love, Journey to Romance1988Dream Images1990Rayahee1991Dance of Spring1994The Winds of Christmas1994Encore in Ivory1995Impressions of Romance1996Touch of Serenity, Volume 11997The Winds of Christmas, Volume 21998Cinema Passion2014Persian Gulf Symphonic Suite
Compilation and guest artist albums +YearTitleArtist(s)Notes1994Live at the AcropolisYanniThe Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by Shahrdad Rohani on this album1999The Private YearsYanniBox set2000River of KingsDej Bulsuk, London Symphony Orchestra, Shardad Rohani2000Sunrise in BangkokDej Bulsuk, London Symphony Orchestra, Shardad Rohani2002Kingdom of SmilesDej Bulsuk, London Symphony Orchestra, Shardad Rohani2007Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker; Swan Lake; the Sleeping BeautySlovak Radio New Philharmonic Orchestra, Viktor Simcisko, Shardad Rohani2009EclectSaxDouglas Masek, Shardad Rohani2009Open SecretNahan Makon, Alireza Assar, London Symphonic Orchestra, Shardad Rohani2013Dancing at the OperaVarious artists2013Sinus Persicus SuiteLondon Symphony Orchestra, London Voices, Shardad Rohani2013Born to be ThaiDej Bulsuk, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Shardad Rohani
Awards A.K.M. Scholarship (Vienna, Austria) ASCAP Scholarship (Los Angeles, California) 1984 – Jerry Fielding Award, UCLA 1999 – 'Pikanes Award' by the Musical Association of Thailand
See also List of Iranian musicians Music of Iran Persian pop music
References
External links
Shardad at Serenity Music