Mehdi Rostami

Mehdi Rostami (Setar, Tanbour)

Mehdi Rostami was born in Kermanshah, Iran. Having started learning setar at the age of six, he pursued advanced studies with ostad Mohammadreza Lotfi and took masterclasses with Hossein Alizadeh and Kayhan Kalhor. In 2010 Mehdi started his own collaborative projects in the UK, working with musicians from different cultures such as Maya Yousef, Tara Jaff and Gilad Atzmon. ‘Melodic Circles’ is their first official release which was released internationally through ARC Music in 2016.

He has been teaching setar for over 20 years and he has instructed setar and organology courses at different universities in Iran. In his teaching he utilized elements from different teaching methods that work best for each student. Beginner students start with the fundamentals, including correct set-up, finger placement, note reading, rhythm, and learning simple songs. Intermediate and advanced students continue to progress with increased proficiency in techniques and move on to learning the radif.