Parviz Meshkatian was born in Neishabur (north-eastern Iran) in 1955. He started his musical training at the age of six with his father Hassan Meshkatian, who played tar and santur masterfully and was also familiar with the violin and setar, having himself learned music from his father.

At an early age, Meshkatian entered the Tehran Academy of Arts, where he studied music theory and was introduced to radif (the Persian classical music repertoire) by the masters Nour Ali Boroumand, Dariush Safvat, Mohammad Taghi Massoudieh, and Mehdi Barkeshli.

He focused on the radif of Mirza Abdollah for santur and setar. After finishing his academic studies, Meshkatian continued the study of music with such masters as the late Abdollah Davami, Saied Hormozi, and Yousef Forootan.

He has won the first prize in santur performance at the Barbad competition. He has taught santur at the Center for the Preservation and Dissemination of Music, where he also served as ensemble leader.

In 1977, Meshkatian founded the Aref Ensemble, which has brought a number of vocalists and musicians to prominence. He has composed numerous songs and pieces of music, all of which the ensemble has recorded and performed at concerts in Europe and America. The ensemble has accordingly been recognized for its efforts to introduce Persian music outside of Iran.

In the spring of 1992, Meshkatian was chosen as the best composer at the Spirit of the Earth festival in Italy. He was also one of the founding members of the Chavosh Artistic and Cultural Foundation, which has played a major role in the development of Iranian music in recent years. Meshkatians settings of classical poetry to music, based on a profound knowledge of Persian literature, established a new chapter of song writing in Persian classical music.

Santoor: Parviz Meshkatian
Tonbak: Naser Farhangfar
Mode: Dastgah Segah