Ehsan Matoori

Born in Iran in 1979, Ehsan Matoori began learning the santoor (Persian dulcimer) at age nine based on the method of Maestro Faramarz Payvar. He studied instrumental and vocal radif (Persian music repertory) with Parviz Meshkatian and Pashang Kamkar. In 2001, he became a santoor teacher at the Center of Art and Culture in Isfahan and at several music schools in Tehran. The traditional style of santoor playing, however, did not satisfy Ehsan’s creative soul-searching. He was looking to expand his techniques through a modern style of santoor playing, so he took lessons from Ardavan Kamkar, one of the greatest contemporary santoor players known for his distinct playing style and tuning.

Ehsan was one of the founding members of the University of Isfahan’s music ensemble Navid-e Bahar in 1999, and he performed concerts with several other ensembles as well. In addition to playing the santoor, he has studied music composition and harmony with Farhad Fakhroaldini and children’s music with Soudabeh Salem. Since moving to the U.S. in 2013, Ehsan has performed with some well-known world-music masters including Sandeep Das, Jamal Mohamed, Poovalur Sriji, Maeve Gilchrist, Matthew Coley, Andrew Bleck, Mike Block, Bassam Saba, Hunkes Netskey and Sybarite 5. He also has performed and composed for some well-known Iranian singers including Alireza Shahmohammadi and Mohsen Namjoo. He has also been a member of the SMU Meadows World Music Ensemble since 2013.