Since making his London debut in 2009, Mahan Esfahani has established himself as the first harpsichordist in a generation whose work spans virtually all areas of classical music-making, from critically acclaimed performances and recordings of standard repertoire to working with the leading composers of the day and pioneering concerto appearances with major symphony orchestras on four continents. He was the first and only harpsichordist to be a BBC New Generation Artist (2008-2010), a Borletti-Buitoni prize winner (2009), a nominee for Gramophone’s Artist of the Year (2014, 2015 and 2017) and on the shortlist as Instrumentalist of the Year for the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards (2013 and 2019).

Esfahani’s work on new and modern music is particularly acclaimed, with high-profile solo and concertante commissions from George Lewis, Bent Sørensen, Poul Ruders, Anahita Abbasi, Daniel Kidane, Michael Berkeley and other contemporary voices forming the backbone of his repertoire. His commitment to exploring the contemporary voice for the harpsichord is reflected in his 2020 Hyperion release Musique?—a compilation of electronic and acoustic works, including the modern revival of Luc Ferrari’s Programme commun for harpsichord and tape.

His richly varied discography for Hyperion and Deutsche Grammophon—including an ongoing series of the complete works of Bach for the former—has been acclaimed in the English- and foreign-language press, and has garnered one Gramophone Award, two BBC Music Magazine Awards, a Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, a Diapason d’Or and ‘Choc de Classica’ (France), and an ICMA, as well as a spot on The New York Times’ List of Top Recordings.

He can be frequently heard as a commentator on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4, as a host for Record Review, Building a Library and Sunday Feature, and on live programmes with the popular mathematician and presenter Marcus du Sautoy; for the BBC’s Sunday Feature he is currently at work on his fourth radio documentary, following popular programmes on such subjects as the early history of African-American composers in the classical sphere and the development of orchestral music in Azerbaijan.

Born in Tehran in 1984, Esfahani grew up in the United States, studying musicology and history at Stanford University and working as a repetiteur and studying in Boston with Peter Watchorn before completing his studies in Prague with the celebrated Czech harpsichordist Zuzana Růžičková . Following several years spent in Milan, Oxford, and London, he now makes his home in Prague.