Shardad Rohani

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Shardad Rohani is an Iranian composer, violinist/pianist, and conductor.

His style is contemporary (sometimes even New Age), especially when compared with his mentors/inspirations, Anoushiravan Rohani and Javad Maroufi. He is probably most known for arranging and conducting the Yanni Live at the Acropolis concert, an open-air concert with the London Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in the Parthenon, Athens, Greece. This concert 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.

Having been educated since childhood at very prestigious schools has made him into a grand maestro, winning awards in various countries and composing in varied styles.

Educated at the Academy and Conservatories of Music in Vienna, Austria, Mr. Rohani has been the recipient of several important scholarships and awards both in Europe and United States. These include the A.K.M Scholarship, Vienna, Austria, and the ASCAP Scholarship, Los Angeles, California.

Mr. Rohani is the music director and conductor of the COTA symphony orchestra in Los Angeles. He has appeared as a guest conductor with a number of prestigious orchestras including, the London Royal Philharmonic concert orchestra, Minnesota Symphony orchestra, Colorado Symphony, San Diego symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Zagreb Philharmonic and the American Youth Symphony and others.

In December of 1998 Mr. Rohani was commissioned by the government of Thailand and the committee of the 13th Asian Olympic Games to compose and conduct the music for opening ceremonies. The composition became the most popular song of the Asian Games.

Mr. Rohani has recorded several classical CD's with the Slovak Radio Symphony orchestra for Discover/Koch International including the Tchaikovsky Ballet music which received raging reviews by the media including the Intune Magazine in Japan.

In 1999 Mr. Rohani received the Thailand's Pikanes award, the country's most prestigious music award for an outstanding orchestral performance. The award is considered the highest artistic achievement.

Mr. Rohani is especially well known to the world for conducting film music.