Mehdi HOSSEINI – Composer, Founder of the Saint-Petersburg Contemporary Music Center “reMusik.org”, Artistic Director of the St. Petersburg International New Music Festival

Mehdi Hosseini was born in 1979 in Tehran, Iran. Hosseini began his musical training in Tehran, studying Persian music and the fundaments of composition under the guidance of Farhad Fakhreddini.Following his studies in Iran, Hosseini finished his Master’s degree at the St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory with Professor Alexander Minatsakanian and his Doctor of Music degree (DMA) in Composition with Sergei Slonimsky. Hosseini also studied composition with composer Nigel Osborn, worked on problems of music theory under the direction of professor Tatiana Bershadskaya.

His music and style has demonstrated his creative capabilities as a composer and his research abilities as a ethnomusicologist and theorist. Hosseini has written symphonic music and chamber orchestra pieces for ensembles and soloists in various compositional genres. At its core, his music reflects his on-going research into the astonishing variety of Persian regional folk music and, in particular, the structure of Dastgah music.

Mehdi Hosseini’s works show a strong monodic music influence, originally interpreted and incorporated into a personal style. He often uses the word monodies not only as the title of his composition, but also as a musical term; by which he means the characteristics of single voice structures, adapting themselves to any musical texture.

In the last few years, Mehdi Hosseini has been actively participating in contemporary music projects local to St. Petersburg, the “Cultural Capital of Russia.” His music is regularly performed in such festivals as St. Petersburg Musical Spring, Contemporary East and West, Contemporary Past, Sound Ways and others. His music has been performed in concert by orchestras such as The St. Petersburg State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra and more. Works of Hosseini have been published by the Compozitor Publishing House Saint-Petersburg.

Hosseini made an invaluable contribution to the development of the St. Petersburg cultural scene in 2011 when he opened the St. Petersburg Contemporary Music Center “reMusik.org” and in 2013 he has established and directs St. Petersburg International New Music Festival.