Mahan Mirarab is an Iranian-Austrian guitarist, composer, arranger, and producer. Raised in Tehran and now based in Vienna, he has developed a distinctive musical language centred on his double-neck guitar. His music brings Persian classical and folk traditions into dialogue with European chamber music, contemporary jazz, and improvisation, revealing new possibilities within each of these forms.

His most recent album, Unspoken, was released by ACT, one of Europe’s most prominent jazz labels. Drawing on Mirarab’s experience of life between cultures, the album unfolds through personal and deeply felt stories of East and West, darkness and beauty, sorrow and joy. Created at a time marked by tension and contradiction, its music offers perspectives that are intimate, sensitive, and universally human. Unspoken received the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the German Record Critics’ Award.

Mirarab performs solo on the double-neck guitar and is joined on selected tracks by Kian Soltani on cello, Lars Danielsson on double bass, and Golnar Shahyar on vocals. Throughout the album, jazz merges with Persian classical and folk influences, European chamber music, and a profoundly lyrical spirit. The result is a singular and personal musical journey shaped by memory, migration, and the search for connection.

Mirarab’s compositions are distinguished by a rich vocabulary of rhythm, harmony, and melody, as well as a deep knowledge of diverse musical traditions. Rather than treating genres as fixed categories, he explores how they can interact, evolve, and be reinterpreted. His work spans jazz, experimental music, acoustic and electronic forms, folk and traditional music, as well as projects for film, dance, and theatre. His music resists cliché while remaining direct, expressive, and accessible.

As a migrant artist, Mirarab is part of a generation of musicians reshaping the European music scene and advocating for greater diversity, artistic quality, dialogue, and creative exchange. Through his work, he offers new narratives about identity, Middle Eastern culture, and the possibilities that emerge when different musical languages meet.

Since 2009, Mirarab has released nine albums as a bandleader, composer, arranger, and producer. He has also appeared on numerous other recordings as a guitarist. Alongside his own artistic projects, he has worked as a musical director and curator for a wide range of ensembles, productions, and festivals, including the NAWA Festival in Vienna, Female Voices of Iran in Berlin, and Impossible Stage in Berkeley, California.

For Mirarab, jazz is more than a musical genre; it is a philosophy—a form of solidarity and a means of asserting one’s identity. “As a migrant in Europe, I bring strong influences from my cultural background,” he explains. “Through the philosophy of jazz, I find my own language, one that allows me to break free from traditional conventions.”

This sense of liberation is particularly evident in the way Mirarab combines elements of Persian and European classical music. Rather than presenting tradition as something fixed, he reimagines it through rhythmic vitality, structural complexity, and a strong physical connection to sound. “Even when the pieces are difficult to play, the focus is always on making them groove.”