Kiya Tabassian

Born in Tehran in 1976 and residing in Montréal since adolescence, Kiya Tabassian has developed a career at the crossroads of Persian music, ancient repertoires, and intercultural dialogue. A setar player, singer, and composer, he founded in 1998 the ensemble Constantinople, of which he serves as artistic director, with work centered on the meeting between the Persian scholarly tradition, Mediterranean music, the Baroque, and contemporary creations. Trained notably with Reza Ghassemi, Kayhan Kalhor, and Gilles Tremblay, Kiya Tabassian builds a sober and mobile writing, attentive to the circulation between orality, composition, and improvisation. His career has led him to collaborate with ensembles and institutions such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, and Holland Baroque, as well as with artists from neighboring aesthetics, among them Ablaye Cissoko, Marco Beasley, Françoise Atlan, and Ghalia Benali. His discography includes La porta d’oriente with Marco Beasley (2015), In the Footsteps of Rumi with Ghalia Benali (2016), Nordic Lights in Persian Sky with Benedicte Maurseth (2020), Estuaire with Ablaye Cissoko (2022) and Dialogos with Holland Baroque (2024). Kiya Tabassian has also composed for documentaries, participated in institutional projects in Montréal, and co-founded the Centre des musiciens du monde, extending an approach where transmission and exchange occupy a central place.