Mahan Esfahani

Mahan Esfahani has done more than anyone to drag the harpsichord out of the early-music margins and into the concert mainstream. Born in Iran, trained in the US and then in Prague, he plants one foot firmly in the 17th and 18th centuries and the other in brand-new music—over 20 works have been written for him. In 2011 he became the first keyboardist to give an all-harpsichord recital at the BBC Proms, and in 2020 was the first solo harpsichordist to give an NPR “Tiny Desk” concert. His discography runs from John Bull’s complete harpsichord music (2009) through to Musique?, 2020’s collection of modern works, via a string of acclaimed Bach releases on Hyperion and Deutsche Grammophon, including Notebooks for Anna Magdalena (2023), The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (2025) and the complete keyboard concertos with Britten Sinfonia (2026). His 2026 album, Mondrian: 21st-Century Harpsichord Concerti, pairs him with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in works by Caroline Shaw, Gary Carpenter and Gavin Bryars. Live performances by Esfahani include an artist residency at Bachfest Leipzig, an onstage harpsichord role in the world premiere of Brett Dean’s opera Of One Blood at the Bayerische Staatsoper, and a guest curatorship with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Music Society.