Mahan Esfahani was born in Tehran in 1984 and studied in the United States and in Milan before completing his studies under the supervision of Zuzana Růžičková in Prague. He is the first harpsichordist to be a BBC New Generation Artist (2008–2010) and to win a prize from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust. He made his Proms debut in 2011 with the first harpsichord recital in its history, and returned to the Proms in 2012 directing his own orchestration of Bach’s The Art of Fugue for the Academy of Ancient Music. The latter performance was selected as one of The Observer’s ‘Top Ten of Classical Music 2012’. Other highlights include recitals in the concert halls of Vienna, Tokyo, Nagoya, Cologne, New York (Frick Collection), Washington DC, Vancouver, Bruges, Zürich, Copenhagen, Leeds, Bristol, Snape Maltings and Edinburgh, as well as several recitals at Wigmore Hall. A frequent commentator on BBC radio and television and a contributor to various music magazines and publications, he works to take the harpsichord beyond the realm of early music into mainstream halls and series. A reflection of this, Mahan was shortlisted in the instrumentalist category at the 2014 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards and was nominated Gramophone ‘Artist of the Year’. His recording of CPE Bach’s Württemberg Sonatas (1744) received wide critical acclaim, winning a Diapason d’Or, and was ‘Recording of the Month’ in BBC Music Magazine.