Mehrdad
Jafari Raad

Hi, I’m Mehrdad Jafari Raad, an Iranian-Canadian composer, performer, and media artist based in Toronto. My work spans film and audiovisual media, contemporary concert music, and electronic and electroacoustic practices. My film scores have been featured at major international festivals including TIFF, VIFF, San Sebastián, and Hot Docs, while my concert works have been performed internationally.

My musical background is rooted in traditional Iranian music, and I’m a profess

Mehrdad Jafari Raad is an Iranian-Canadian composer, performer, and media artist based in Toronto, working across film scoring, contemporary concert music, and electronic and electroacoustic practices. Drawing on a musical background rooted in traditional Iranian music and a broader engagement with different musical traditions, his work combines acoustic and electronic sound worlds through a narrative-driven approach to composition.

His film scores have been featured at major international festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF), San Sebastián International Film Festival (SSIFF), and Hot Docs. His work has received multiple awards and nominations for original score in Canada and Iran, including recognition from the LEO Awards, ISFA Awards, and Cyrus Film Festival.

Alongside his work for film, Mehrdad maintains an active contemporary concert music practice. His music has been performed internationally, and he has collaborated with soloists and ensembles including Theodor Milkov, Bedford Trio, Rogue Duo, Hasht Cello Octet, and the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra. He also collaborates with visual artists on interdisciplinary projects exploring relationships between sound, image, movement, and emerging forms of performance.

Mehrdad’s musical background is rooted in traditional Iranian music. He is an accomplished performer on the Tar and Setar and has performed extensively in Iran and Canada, including collaborations with Labyrinth Ontario. This background continues to inform his approach to musical gesture, rhythm, improvisation, and form while intersecting with his work in contemporary classical and electronic music.

He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from the University of Toronto and a Master of Arts in Composition from the Art University of Tehran.

Across his work, Mehrdad explores themes including identity and fragmentation, cultural synthesis, power and resistance, dreams and subconscious landscapes, and the human condition. These interests take different forms across his work for the screen, concert hall, and interdisciplinary projects, connected by an interest in narrative, perception, and the psychological possibilities of sound.

ional Tar and Setar player. This background continues to shape my approach to sound and composition alongside contemporary classical and electronic practices.

I hold a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from the University of Toronto and a Master of Arts in Composition from the Art University of Tehran. Across my work, I explore themes of identity and fragmentation, cultural synthesis, power and resistance, dreams and subconscious landscapes, and the human condition.