Keyvan Chemirâni

Born in Paris in 1968 and raised in Manosque, Keyvan Chemirani has since the 1990s developed a career at the crossroads of Persian music, Mediterranean traditions, improvisation and jazz. A Franco‑Iranian percussionist, he was first taught the zarb by Christian Daninos and later by his father Djamchid Chemirani; he treats rhythm as a material of timbre, breath and polyrhythm, also incorporating influences from Indian traditions. In 1999 he founded the Trio Chemirani with Djamchid and his brother Bijan, a family formation that occupies a central place in his trajectory. His discography includes Le Rythme de la parole (2004), Battements au cœur de l’Orient (2007), Keyvan Chemirani & The Rhythm Alchemy (2019) and Hâl (Ballades amoureuses) (2021). He has also led cross‑disciplinary creations with musicians such as Louis Sclavis, Jean‑Guihen Queyras and Omar Sosa, while appearing in the field of early music with ensembles like La Chapelle Rhénane and La Cappella Mediterranea. In 2022 he composed the opera Negar, premiered in Berlin and later presented in France in 2024, continuing an approach in which dialogue between repertoires, languages and forms of writing remains central.