About

Arsha Kaviani creates unique musical experiences around the piano. Equally at home performing virtuosic classical repertoire for packed-out concert halls, improvising at the keyboard in intimate venues or creating original compositions, Arsha’s restless creativity and exceptional talent make him one of the most exciting and unorthodox musicians of his generation.

Born and raised in Dubai by Iranian parents, Arsha grew up surrounded by music from Beethoven to Led Zeppelin and began improvising and composing at the piano from an early age, soon teaching himself to transcribe whole symphonies and concertos. Though his prodigious talents were quickly noticed and a move to the UK for formal musical training followed, these formative experiences of total freedom and experimentation – “not knowing what wasn’t possible” – were instrumental in shaping Arsha as an artist of rare independence and imagination.

During his studies at Chetham’s School of Music and then the Royal Northern College of Music, Royal College of Music and Trinity Laban Conservatoire Arsha was the recipient of numerous prizes and was mentored by leading artists including Stephen Hough, Vladimir Jurowski, Daniel Barenboim, Lang Lang and Peter Donohoe, who has described Arsha as “one of the most exciting pianistic talents to emerge in recent years”.

A Steinway Artist named by International Piano Magazine as one of the 30 Under 30 Best Pianists in the World, in his career Arsha has given critically acclaimed performances with international orchestras including Tonhalle Zurich, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Orchestre Symphonie de Bretagne, and performed solo recitals in prestigious venues ranging from London to Tokyo.

Challenging the conventions and hierarchies of classical music is central for Arsha as both a performer and a composer. Never content to follow the well-trodden path of the typical concert pianist, in recent years Arsha has sought out unusual venues and developed unique formats for his live performances, incorporating wide-ranging repertoire, original compositions and audience-prompted improvisations.

Committed to demystifying classical music for curious listeners from all backgrounds, Arsha is a convivial guide to a wide range of repertoire, speaking and playing from the piano with authority and refreshing informality. As friend and former mentor Krystian Zimerman put it, “besides Arsha the only other person I met who could speak as interestingly, illuminatingly and charismatically about music was probably Leonard Bernstein”. 

Arsha frequently incorporates his own music into his programmes and is highly in-demand as a composer. Through his production company Maison Musique Kaviani Arsha accepts commissions to write bespoke music for private clients and collaborates on innovative interdisciplinary projects, including previous work with figures as diverse as world-renowned photographer Damon Baker and author and philosopher Robert Greene.

In Arsha’s musical imagination the most virtuosic classical repertoire mingles happily with pop, jazz, traditional Persian music and far beyond, and through his extraordinary playing these influences present themselves in performances, arrangements and new compositions of exhilarating wit and originality.