Ali Kian Yazdanfar

Ali Kian Yazdanfar maintains an active career not only as principal double bass of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, but also as a soloist, chamber musician, and pedagogue.

Although he started playing the bass at 7 years old, his science and mathematics background led to a physics degree from The Johns Hopkins University.  Yet directly upon graduating, he won his first audition to become a member of the Houston Symphony. He went on to win his next three auditions, for the National Symphony in Washington, D.C., for principal bass with the San Francisco Symphony, and for principal bass with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, where he currently plays.

A frequent recitalist and solo performer, he is committed to creating unique musical events that spotlight the double bass in various ways. For example, we recognize the program of solo and duo works with violist Frederic Lambert, Iridescence, that was recorded in 2023 on the Leaf Music label.  Taking inspiration from his Iranian roots, he has also commissioned and performed many new works for solo double bass, including the world premiere in 2018 of a new bass concerto by Behzad Ranjbaran with Kent Nagano conducting the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.  In addition, he created the program Sayeh-Roshan, centered around new works for double bass and piano by Iranian composers, that explores the complex experiences of those with roots in multiple cultures.  With the support of the Canada Arts Council and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, this program is the object of a recording to be released in November 2025.

As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Edinburgh Festival, the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Orford Music, the Kennedy Center, and the Festival International du Domaine Forget, among other places, and in 2017 and 2018, with the OSM Chamber Soloists, he recorded two albums on the Analekta label: the first featured Beethoven’s Septet and Hasenöhrl’s arrangement of Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel, and the second comprised Schubert’s Octet.

Ali is also an associate professor at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, and his former students hold posts in major orchestras of Canada, the United States, and Europe.  In addition to presenting masterclasses during the summer at Orford Music in Québec, Canada, he regularly appears or has been on the faculty of festivals such the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, National Orchestral Institute, the National Youth Orchestra of the United States (NYOUSA), and Le Domaine Forget.  Worldwide masterclass appearances include the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute, the Sydney Conservatorium, the Peabody Institute, and Bass Europe congresses in Prague and Copenhagen. He also has a series of instructional videos on Tonebase Double Bass focusing on orchestral excerpts and fundamental technique.

Website: aliyazdanfar.com
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