Biography

Rzgar Malamahmoodi was born on March 21, 1984 in Kurdistan’s eastern city of Boukan. Being under the influence of his mother’s guidance and voice, he became fascinated by music as a child.

It was at the age of twelve when he started listening to Kurdish and Persian prominent singers eagerly and took steps to learn Kurdish and Persian maqams gradually.

When he was fifteen years old, he began attending a singing class in his hometown so as to learn the Persian dastgahs. The next year, after his mother helped him with buying a tar, he started taking the tar lessons.

At the age of twenty-four he went to Gilan University to study music, following a new route in his artistic life.

While studying at university, he was enamored with Tahir Tewfiq’s voice and virtuosity and together with learning Persian dastgahs deeply and studying music theory, he attempted to learn Kurdish maqams. Some musicians from eastern and southern Kurdistan helped him with gaining more experience. During the university years he played in several concerts with different ensembles.

When he was a second year student, he was familiar with Zazaki music, changing the course of his artistic life.

He has been engaging in learning Kurdish music and the tanbur, along with appreciating Yazidi, Alawi, and Yarsan cultures since 2009.

In 2011, he received his B.A. in “playing the Iranian musical instruments”.

He started studying ethnomusicology in the faculty of fine arts at Tehran University in 2014.

In 2015, Rzgar Malamahmoodi gave several concerts in Scandinavia accompanied by Kawe Mehmudian. The concerts continued in Europe, Iran, and the east of Kurdistan. In these concerts he both played and sang.

Since 2010 he has been teaching tar and setar. Recently, he has started teaching tanbur as well.

Rzgar Malamahmoodi’s first album Temok (= foggy and sorrowful) was released in 2022.