Majid Nijahi

Nijahi, Majid (1941-)

Santur soloist performing in numerous Golha programmes alongside famous musicians such as Faramarz Payvar, Riza Varzanda, Mansur Sarimi, and Fazlu’llah Tavakkul. Although he was entirely self-educated in music, owing to his particular style in performing on the santur (which is still today unprecedented), he found fame from 1960 onwards in the Iranian music world and on the Golha programmes. The famous vocalist Husayn Qavami initially encouraged Nijahi to pursue the santur and later performed with him in numerous Golha programmes. 

Nijahi’s performance style is inspired by the sound of piano on the one hand and the bowed and percussive instruments on the other. The emotionally exaggerated, intensely sensitized and romantic ambience evoked by Nijahi on the santur led to his popularity on the Golha programmes and later on as well on the Taknavazan programs (1970-1977) to which Nijahi made many contributions. The transformations in the world of music in Iran following 1979 revolution caused Nijahi to cease all performances on the radio and television and concentrate on teaching students in his home.

Siyamak Bana’i