Origin Iran Years active 1973–present Parents Reza Rohani | Instruments Violin, Piano Website www.shardadrohani.com Children Sara Rohani | |
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Born May 27, 1954 (age 62)
Tehran, Iran ( 1954-05-27 ) Occupation(s) Composer, Arranger, Conductor Associated acts Yanni, Anoushiravan Rohani Albums Encore on Ivory, Winds of Christmas Siblings Anoushiravan Rohani, Ardeshir Rohani, Shahriar Rohani Music director Hello Cinema, A Dragon Arrives! Similar Anoushiravan Rohani, Yanni, Ali Rahbari, Reza Rohani, Parvaz Homay | ||
Shardad Rohani also spelled Shahrdad Rohani, Shahrdad Rouhani and Shahdad Rohani (Persian: شهرداد روحانی or شهداد روحانی, born 27 May 1954 in Tehran) is an Iranian-American composer, violinist/pianist, and conductor. His style is contemporary and he is well known for composing and conducting classical, instrumental, adult contemporary/new age, film soundtrack as well as pop music.
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Early life
His father, Reza Rohani, was an accomplished musician and as a result, Shahrdad and all of his brothers including Anoushiravan Rohani and Ardeshir Rohani followed in their father’s footsteps. He began playing the piano at age 6, like many of his other brothers. As a child, he was a student to a well-known Persian violinist, Ebrahim Rouhifar. At age 10 he attended the Persian National Music Conservatory of Tehran. By 1975, he was studying Music Composition and Conducting at the Vienna Music Academy. By 1984 Shahrdad moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA.
Musical career
From 1987 until 1991, Rohani served as the music director and conductor of the Conductor of the Arts (COTA) symphony orchestra in Los Angeles. He has appeared as a guest conductor with a number of prestigious orchestras including London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras and many others.
Rohani arranged and conducted sixty piece orchestra to supplement Yanni's keyboard compositions during the Yanni Live at the Acropolis concert in 1993, it was an open-air concert with the London Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in the Parthenon, Athens, Greece. Shahrdad also played the violin in all but two of the tracks during this concert. Yanni Live at the Acropolis was acclaimed by both critics and audience and became the most widely viewed program ever shown on Public Television in United States and is the second best-selling music video of all time.
In 1994 Shahrdad became a US Citizen.
Rohani was commissioned in 1998 by the government of Thailand and the committee of the 13th Asian Games to compose and conduct the music for opening ceremonies. The composition became the most popular song of the Asian Games.
In 1999, Rohani received the Thailand's 'King's Golden Pikanes Award', the country's most prestigious music award for an outstanding orchestral performance. The award is considered the highest artistic achievement.