Kian Soltani & Ensemble Shiraz

Kian Soltani is regarded as one of the most exciting cellists of his generation, a fact confirmed by prominent musician friends such as Daniel Barenboim. Yet, as an Austrian with Iranian roots, Kian Soltani also returns time and again to the music of his parents. Together with the Shiraz Ensemble, which was co-founded by his father, Kian Soltani now presents a blend of Persian musical tradition, jazz and world music.

“With its improvised passages and constant ornamentation, Persian music is freer than classical music and at least as complex,” says Kian Soltani, who sees himself on stage as a bridge between the audience and the leading Persian musicians. The Shiraz Ensemble includes, for example, the oud virtuoso Hossein Behroozinia and, of course, his father Koshro Soltani, who is a master of the flute-like duduk. And every now and then, Kian Soltani even sets his cello aside to dazzle on the ‘spiked violin’, the kamancheh, in this musical bridge-building between East and West!