About & Contact

Siamak Barghi is an Iranian musician, composer, and educator, currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Music Composition at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He holds an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Tehran (2021) and has an academic background in Electrical Engineering, with an M.Sc. from K.N. Toosi University of Technology (2011) and a B.Sc. from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (2008).

Siamak began his musical journey at the age of five under the guidance of his father, Asad Barghi. Over the years, he studied with some of the most respected figures in music, including Bahman Rajabi, Mohammadreza Lotfi, Navid Afghah, Ben Leeds Carson, Hooman Asadi, Sasan Fatemi, Babak Khazrai, and Tanya Merchant.

A multi-instrumentalist, Siamak performs on violin, kamanche, and tonbak, and is also familiar with several other Iranian instruments, including setār, tār, daf, oud, ney, and ghichak. Since 2006, he has performed widely in Iran and internationally, collaborating with masters such as Aliakbar Shekarchi, Shahram Mirjalali, and Ardeshir Kamkar.

In 2010, Siamak co-founded the Saba Orchestra in Mashhad with his brother Samad Barghi, leading numerous performances across Iran until 2020.

From 2016 to 2024, he served as a faculty member and lecturer at Ferdows Institute of Higher Education in Mashhad. In 2018, he founded Arqanon, a music institute in his hometown.

As a researcher, Siamak has conducted extensive fieldwork on the folk music traditions of Iran, focusing on regions such as Eastern Khorāsān, Kermān, and Balouchestān. His scholarly work includes the 2024 publication:

Āwāye Khiāl: Transcription of the Album, Stylistic Analysis of Navid Afghah’s Works
Tehran: Mashahir-e Honar

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Selected Conference Presentations
• 2025 – Innovations in Tombak Performance throughout the 2000s & 2010s, NorCal AMS, San Jose State University
• 2025 – The Iranian Violin: Tradition, Innovation, and the Legacy of Abolhasan Saba, NCCSEM, La Peña Cultural Center, Berkeley
• 2019 – Introduction to Iranian Classical Music and Its Current Reception, University of Cambridge

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Selected Performances

2025
• Improvisation in Iranian Music, Santa Cruz Festival of New Music (Kamanche & Santour)
• Dormant Embers by Nina Barzegar (Tombak), with Del Sol Quartet, Santa Cruz
• UCSC Central Asian Ensemble (Kamanche), Google HQ & UCSC
• UCSC Symphony Orchestra (Violin I)
• Nowruz Performance, University of Memphis (Violin & Kamanche)

2024
• Setar & Tonbak Improvisation with Amir Nozhan, Central Stage, Richmond, CA
• Kamancheh & Tonbak Improvisation with Ardeshir Kamkar, Mashhad

2018
• Mugam Music Competition, Baku, Azerbaijan (with Khayyam Music Ensemble)
• Tār & Tonbak Improvisation with Shahram Mirjalali, Mashhad

2017
• Kamancheh & Tonbak Improvisation with Aliakbar Shekarchi, Mashhad

2010–2020
• Saba Orchestra – 1st Violin, Composer, Arranger (Multiple concerts across Iran)

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Selected Discography
• 2024 – Sarv-e-Mehr, Composer: Samad Barghi, Iranian Classical Music
• 2022 – Kamāne, Violin & Tonbak Improvisation
• 2018 – Fall to Autumn, Iranian Classical Music
• 2018 – Bi-Maryam, Bakhtiāri Folklore Music
• 2013 – Sāye-hā, Iranian Popular Music
• 2006 – Sarve-Kharāmān, Khorāsan Folklore Music

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Awards & Honors
• 2019 – 2nd Place, National University Entrance Exam (MA in Music), Iran
• 2018 – 1st Place, Mugam Music Competition, Baku, Azerbaijan
• 2007 – 1st Place Tonbak Player, 6th National Youth Music Festival, Tehran