Mehdi Hosseini (Composer)

So grateful to share a few moments from the performance of my new work, Joftpâ. A huge thank you to the phenomenal musicians of MCME for bringing this piece to life with such brilliant artistry!
It was an absolute joy to visit Kazan for this special occasion. My deepest thanks to Roman Parkhomenko for creating Synesthesia Lab—a truly wonderful and inspiring project.

🎵 Tomorrow in Moscow: Contemporary Iranian Music

My composition Abkenari will be performed tomorrow, September 23, in Moscow as part of “For the Cypress That Wanted to Become a Song.”

The concert, performed by the Studio for New Music Ensemble http://t.me/studionewmusic , features works by six Iranian composers from different generations and is presented in connection with the poetry of Forugh Farrokhzad, particularly her collection Another Birth.

The program includes works by Hanna Mesgari, Nastaran Yazdani, Mehdi Setoudeh, Ehsan Khatibi, Alireza Farhang, and Mehdi Hosseini.

I am very pleased that Abkenari will be part of this program, and especially grateful to the Studio for New Music Ensemble for performing the work and for their important contribution to contemporary music.

If you are in Moscow or somewhere nearby, I hope you can attend. It would be a pleasure to see you there.

📅 Wednesday, September 23, 2026
🕢 19:30
📍 des esseintes library, Moscow International University http://t.me/desesseinteslibrary

🎵 Listen to Abkenari
https://www.monodies.com/news-20260922/

I am pleased to announce that the Iranian Musicological Society (@imsmusicology) will be hosting my Composition Masterclass on September 18, 2026 (Friday, 27 Shahrivar 1405). I look forward to this opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with composers, colleagues, and others interested in contemporary music in Iran.

I am also very pleased to see the Iranian Musicological Society providing a valuable platform for dialogue and greater connection among music researchers and practitioners in Iran. I hope the Society will contribute to stronger connections and solidarity among colleagues, particularly composers, and across Iran’s wider music community, while creating opportunities for new collaborations and constructive exchange.

My thanks to the Society for organizing this Masterclass and for creating this opportunity for dialogue and exchange.


🌐 Iranian Musicological Society: https://imsmusicology.org/

#IranianMusicologicalSociety #IranianMusic #Composition #CompositionMasterclass #ContemporaryMusic

Yesterday marked the commemoration of Avicenna (Ibn Sina, c. 980–1037), one of the greatest Persian philosophers and scientists of the 10th–11th centuries.

I wanted to take this opportunity to revisit his writings on music—his ideas about sound, intervals, proportions, scales, and the relationship between music, mathematics, and philosophy.

The photograph is from my copy of The Three Persian Treatises on Music, edited by the Iranian musicologist Taghi Binesh and published by Iran University Press, Tehran, 1992.

I have written more about Avicenna and music on Monodies.com:
https://www.monodies.com/blog-20260824/

When a Composer Cannot Reach the Music!

After several months of interrupted communication, I recently heard from one of my composition students in Iran.

During Persian Sizdah Bedar, while he was with around sixty relatives in an old garden, an attack by the United States and Israel took place.

According to his account, around 1,000 explosive devices fell across the area. Twenty-one people were injured, including several members of his family.

He sent me messages describing what happened and photographs taken immediately afterward.

With his permission, I am publishing selected screenshots and photographs.

What makes this particularly painful for me is that this is not simply the story of a civilian caught in a war.

He is a composer.

He had been working on his music, preparing for a performance in St. Petersburg, and hoping to continue developing his work.

Then came hospitals, injured relatives, interrupted communications and uncertainty.

And music had to wait.

War does not only destroy buildings.

It can destroy the everyday conditions that make artistic life possible.

A composer needs time to think.
A student needs communication.
A score needs to be written.
A rehearsal needs to happen.
A musician needs to be able to imagine a future.

I am sharing his story because I believe that these human consequences also belong to the story of music.

I hope my student will soon be able to return to his desk, open his score, and think about sound rather than survival.

And I hope that when he is ready, the international music community will still be there to listen.

Full article: “When a Composer Cannot Reach the Music”
https://www.monodies.com/blog-20260819/


#Iran #IranianComposer #ContemporaryMusic #NewMusic #Composer #MusicAndWar #Peace #Iran #MusicCommunity #nowar

Applications are officially open!

I am so happy to share that applications are officially open for our 9th Online Composition Course reMusik.org 2027!

Every year, my favorite part of directing the St. Petersburg Contemporary Music Center @remusikorg is seeing young, passionate talents come together from different corners of the globe. For this edition, we’ve gathered an amazing team of world-renowned guest professors and tutors who are truly eager to mentor and work closely with young and emerging talented composers.

The online courses will run from May 23rd to June 5th, 2027, right alongside our 14th St. Petersburg International New Music Festival.
Just keep an eye on the calendar—the first deadline for Groups A0, A1, and A3 is October 1st, 2026.

🔗 Check out the details here: www.en.remusik.org/academy/courses/composition/