Mehrdad Gholami is an educator, researcher, and recording artist. He is Assistant Professor of Flute and Woodwind Area Coordinator at Western Washington University, where he teaches flute, chamber music, pedagogy, and electroacoustic music. Since joining Western in 2023, he has also worked closely with students and faculty on recruitment, auditions, scholarships, curriculum, and the continued growth of the woodwind program.
Mehrdad began his musical training in Tehran. After ranking first in Iran’s national university entrance examination in the arts, he received the Presidential Award of Merit and a scholarship from Iran’s National Elites Foundation to study at the University of Tehran. He later moved to the United States and completed his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in flute performance at Texas Christian University, studying with Shauna Thompson. His doctoral research focused on contemporary Iranian flute music and included a broader study of the history of Western classical music in Iran. In 2023, the National Flute Association named his dissertation the winner of NFA’s Graduate Research Competition.
His career has brought together orchestral playing, contemporary music, teaching, and research. He has performed with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, McKinney Philharmonic, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Bellingham Symphony, and Bellingham Music Festival. In 2015, he returned to the Tehran Symphony as guest principal flute under Alexander Rahbari. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Tehran Symphony, Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, and ensembles at Western Washington University.
From 2017 to 2019, Mehrdad was the Susan and Ford Schumann Fellow for Contemporary Music at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he served as flute fellow of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. He later received a Contemporary Ensemble Fellowship from the Atlantic Music Festival. His performances, lectures, and workshops have taken him to the National Flute Association Convention, Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention, Texas Flute Festival, Vancouver Day of Music, and universities and music programs across the United States and Canada.
A large part of Mehrdad’s work has been devoted to music by Iranian composers. Through the Iran Flute Project, he has spent more than a decade commissioning, premiering, recording, arranging, and publishing works for flute. His recordings include Iranity, This Vast Sky: Iranian Flute Music for Two Flutes, and recent releases featuring music by Hossein Nassehi and Reza Vali. His collection 14 Persian Folksongs was published by ALRY Publications in 2024. This work has grown from a simple goal: to make Iranian flute music easier to find, perform, teach, and study outside Iran.
Mehrdad is also a regular contributor to The Flutist Quarterly. His writing covers flute pedagogy, articulation, vibrato, musicality, contemporary repertoire, and Iranian music. He has given workshops on subjects ranging from score study and chamber music to Baroque ornamentation, extended techniques, and writing effectively for the flute. As a teacher and adjudicator, he has worked with the National Flute Association, Washington Music Educators Association, Seattle Flute Society, Texas Flute Society, and numerous school and university programs.
His recent honors include an Artist Trust Fellowship, an Artist Trust GAP Award, and research support from Western Washington University. He serves on the board of the Seattle Flute Society and is a founding board member of the Iran Flute Society. Away from the university, Mehrdad is also the founder and audio engineer of Canopy Media Studio, where he records and produces projects for fellow musicians.
Mehrdad began his musical training in Tehran. After ranking first in Iran’s national university entrance examination in the arts, he received the Presidential Award of Merit and a scholarship from Iran’s National Elites Foundation to study at the University of Tehran. He later moved to the United States and completed his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in flute performance at Texas Christian University, studying with Shauna Thompson. His doctoral research focused on contemporary Iranian flute music and included a broader study of the history of Western classical music in Iran. In 2023, the National Flute Association named his dissertation the winner of NFA’s Graduate Research Competition.
His career has brought together orchestral playing, contemporary music, teaching, and research. He has performed with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, McKinney Philharmonic, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Bellingham Symphony, and Bellingham Music Festival. In 2015, he returned to the Tehran Symphony as guest principal flute under Alexander Rahbari. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Tehran Symphony, Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, and ensembles at Western Washington University.
From 2017 to 2019, Mehrdad was the Susan and Ford Schumann Fellow for Contemporary Music at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he served as flute fellow of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. He later received a Contemporary Ensemble Fellowship from the Atlantic Music Festival. His performances, lectures, and workshops have taken him to the National Flute Association Convention, Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention, Texas Flute Festival, Vancouver Day of Music, and universities and music programs across the United States and Canada.
A large part of Mehrdad’s work has been devoted to music by Iranian composers. Through the Iran Flute Project, he has spent more than a decade commissioning, premiering, recording, arranging, and publishing works for flute. His recordings include Iranity, This Vast Sky: Iranian Flute Music for Two Flutes, and recent releases featuring music by Hossein Nassehi and Reza Vali. His collection 14 Persian Folksongs was published by ALRY Publications in 2024. This work has grown from a simple goal: to make Iranian flute music easier to find, perform, teach, and study outside Iran.
Mehrdad is also a regular contributor to The Flutist Quarterly. His writing covers flute pedagogy, articulation, vibrato, musicality, contemporary repertoire, and Iranian music. He has given workshops on subjects ranging from score study and chamber music to Baroque ornamentation, extended techniques, and writing effectively for the flute. As a teacher and adjudicator, he has worked with the National Flute Association, Washington Music Educators Association, Seattle Flute Society, Texas Flute Society, and numerous school and university programs.
His recent honors include an Artist Trust Fellowship, an Artist Trust GAP Award, and research support from Western Washington University. He serves on the board of the Seattle Flute Society and is a founding board member of the Iran Flute Society. Away from the university, Mehrdad is also the founder and audio engineer of Canopy Media Studio, where he records and produces projects for fellow musicians.