Silk Road Ensemble Artists

Siamak Jahangiry
ney (b. 1971, Iran)

"When you travel and play for people outside your country, they usually want to learn more about your culture and where you come from. This is an important aspect of what we do with this project. We gain knowledge about each other and share knowledge about ourselves."

Siamak Jahangiry is a rising star in the world of Iranian classical music. Born in northern Iran, he began playing the ney at age twelve. His learned first from Mr. Abdolnaghi Afsharnia before going on to study with Iran’s most eminent ney players, primarily with Mohammad Ali Kiani Nejad. He received his degree in music from Tehran University of the Arts and has written a book on the ney, its playing techniques in the 20th century and its masters. Mr. Jahangiry is also a member of Abd-al-kadir Ensemble, whose current focus is unique compositions by Abd-al-kadir Maraghi (born 1350 or1360 AC), one of the most prominent Iranian music theorists and composers of the 14th century. Jahangiry resides in Tehran, where he is an enthusiastic teacher of the ney as well as a composer. The Abd-al-kadir Ensemble has recorded many of his compositions based on folk music from northern Iran and Persian classical music.

Siamak Jahangiry performs with the Silk Road Ensemble, appears on the album Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet and was featured in the photo exhibit entitled The Silk Road Ensemble: Portraits and Places.