Lab 4 Team

Vita

Golnar Shahyar is a vocalist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist, music educator, and activist based in Vienna and Berlin. Her work introduces a new approach to the art of songwriting, improvisation, vocalisation, and composition with many integrated elements from the rich musical cultures of East Asia, northwest Africa, Contemporary jazz, European contemporary, electroacoustic, and chamber music. Her singing practices are integrative to a wide range of human vocal and emotional spectrum. She is not only at home in the microtonal music traditions of the MENA region but also finds new terrains by her contemporary interpretations of those traditions. Shahyar s music, educational approach, and activism both challenge and offer opportunities on how we practice, perceive and reproduce music. Shahyar has a bachelor in Biology from York University as well as a bachelor in vocal studies/music pedagogy and guitar performance from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. 

Shahyar is the bandleader and lead singer of her previous bands SORMEH (Austrian World Music Nominee, European World Music Charts, NASOM selection), CHOUB (NASOM selection), SEHRANG as well as her currently active bands GABBEH, GOLNAR & MAHAN TRIO  (WOMEX 2020 Selection, NASOM selection) and GolNar. Her dedication to continually creating new cultural and musical dialog in her work brought her many collaborations with various internationally renowned musicians such as Erkan Ogur and Alain Perez, both on stage and in music productions as well as solo performances with ORF Radio Symphonie Orchestra, TONKÜNSTLER-ORCHESTER and Trickster Orchestra.

Being for more than a decade in the field of performance, music production, and education, Shahyar has proved to be a multifaceted musician who has put quality, dialog, personal expression, storytelling, and advocacy at the core of her artistic work.