Dissident Composer Mehdi Rajabian Can’t Leave Iran, But His Music Is Traveling the World

Dissident Iranian composer Mehdi Rajabian is barred from leaving his country by its Islamic Republic government, but his work continues to gain traction in the West.

On Sept. 17, André Bellmont, the conductor, composer, orchestrator and professor at the University of the Arts in Zurich, Switzerland, will conduct four of Rajabian’s pieces — “An Epitaph on the Tomb of Companions,” “Whip on a Lifeless Body,” “Murmur of the Naked Nun” and “Coup of Gods” — with the university’s orchestra at the Neumünster Church there. The concert will also include works by Hans Zimmer, Iranian singer and artist Parastoo Ahmadi, Swiss-Armenian multi-instrumentalist Valeri Tolstov’s Authentic Light Orchestra and Swiss-Iranian harpist Asita Hamidi.

“Mehdi is a real artist. A real artist will never compromise his own artistic vision and his believes, even when he has to sacrifice his own existence,” says Bellmont, who begins rehearsing the pieces on April 12. “One of the reasons why Mehdi was arrested in his home country is because he was writing music for a female voice. It seems quite strange that Mehdi’s music now will be performed in a western church. But we have to admit that our concert venue is a very appreciated place for acoustic jazz concerts, too.”

Rajabian was arrested in 2013, put in solitary confinement for three months, released on bail and arrested again in 2015 for recording an album titled The History of Iran Narrated by Setar (a lute-like instrument used in traditional Persian music).

After his 2015 conviction, he says he was moved to Evin prison in Tehran — where, in 2016, he began a 40-day hunger strike that led to his release on parole in 2017. (He says that his three-year prison sentence, which was suspended, could be enforced at any time.) Rajabian was arrested again in 2020 but not imprisoned, because of his album Middle Eastern, which was released, but was part of a larger performance art project that involved dance, painting and a book that were not realized. The charges levied against him then were that he was “encouraging prostitution,” he says — because female vocalists, who are banned in Iran, sang on the album.

The long-term effects of Rajabian’s imprisonment and hunger strike took a toll on his health. “My body and soul have been damaged,” he told Billboard in 2021 after the release of his symphony, Coup of Gods, which was engineered by Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. “I lost 15 kilograms of weight [33 pounds] and 40% of my vision and my joints swelled because of the hunger strike,” he explains. “I couldn’t even play an instrument on my album. I could only compose and arrange. I did it just to say that no power can stop the freedom of music.”

Rajabian tells Billboard this is the first time his music has been performed live. “I have never been able to have a concert in my life,” he says. “I will have to watch it remotely, but I am happy that the Islamic Republic cannot cancel the concert like the many concerts it cancels in Iran.

“André listened to my pieces and called me to say that he was planning to perform them,” he adds. “We spent about a year sending the scores back and forth to edit them.”

Bellmont says “there’s a big technical challenge in performing Mehdi’s music live,” explaining that “you need a modern recording session approach as applied in Peter Gabriel‘s New Blood Orchestra concert tour or in Snarky Puppy‘s studio performance with the Metropole Orkest. To figure this out with a tiny budget is quite tricky and gave me some headache during the last one-and-half years, but it gave me also the motivation and the kick to move forward and to realize this project.”

As a result of Rajabian’s several months of work with Bellmont, the university presented the Iranian composer with a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) which means further studies. Rajabian calls this “an important event” in his life because, “the Islamic Republic has banned me from studying.”

Rajabian is also moving outside his orchestral and New Age music comfort zone to work with the Oakland, Calif.-based BIPOC hip-hop family music group, Alphabet Rockers. Co-Leaders Tommy Soulati Shepherd & Kaitlin McGaw say Rajabian is helping with production on a song-in-progress called “Shades” that is intended for a “global” project by the Rockers, who won a Best Children’s Music Album Grammy in 2023 for The Movement.

“We strive to show solidarity with and amplification of those most marginally punished by the culture wars,” McGaw says. “We want to create communities that are rooted in belonging. That’s human rights at its core.”

“So, if we can give a musical home to Mehdi that is larger than four walls and larger than the nation, that’s a gift to everyone,” Shepherd adds.

“I had already listened to their music and followed their activities in the field of children’s awareness. The power of their singing attracted me a lot, it was full of technique and emotion,” Rajabian says. “I would like to do this new experience. I think something good will happen — an exciting album and different from the previous styles that I have experienced.”