He was born in 1963 in Kermanshah. He started learning music as an amateur at the age of five and then at the age of 13 he started his artistic collaboration with Kermanshah Radio and Television and performed Kurdish music with artists of this city.
The Kermanshahi musician further visited Tehran and released several successful albums with the music group Shaida under the supervision of famous Iranian musician Mohammad Reza Lutfi, which the songs where sang by the Iranian vocalist Mohamed Raza Shajarian.
Keyhan Kalhor visited Italy at the age of 17 and settled there. He then moved to Canada to study music and was admitted to Carleton University in Ottawa. His final university project was the album Night of Silence Deaf by Mohammad Reza Shajarian, about the Kurdish music of North Khorasan, which is one of the most successful works of this artist and has a special place among Iranian music listeners. As a result, Kalhor graduated with honors from Carleton University in Ottawa.
At this university, he became acquainted with Western music techniques. His acquaintance with Western music techniques led him to record several respected works with famous world music artists, including the albums and CDs of Ghazal 1, 2, 3, and 4, and Ta Bikran Dur Dast with talented Kermanshahi instrumentalist Ali Akbar Moradi, Shabhay Fairuzae Neshabur and many other works.
Keyhan Kalhor has been recognized as a talented composer and instrumentalist in Iran with his album Shab Sakoot Kweer featuring the voice of Iranian singer Mohammad Reza Shajarian. The experienced Kurdish composer continued his career in Iran with Iranian musicians Hossein Alizadeh and Homayoun Shajarian. The result of this collaboration was regular concerts in various countries of the Americas and Europe, as well as around the world.
After many years of waiting, musicians from Kermanshah, accompanied by Mohammad Reza Shajarian and his group, performed a concert in early January 2003 to help the people of Bam and the earthquake victims of the city.
He went on to release several other albums in Shajarian's voice, all of which are successful works of Iranian traditional music, including It's Winter, Without You I Can't Head and Fryad
Keyhan Kalhor has released a new album titled New Impossibilities with the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, which has been well received by music lovers in the United States and around the world.
In 2006, he helped compose the music for the film Youth Without Youth directed by Francis Ford Capola, composed by Argentine composer Isualdo Goliff, in which Keyhan Kalhor played the violin solo. Several parts of the music for the film Youth Without Youth were recorded by Keyhan Kalhor on the violin in Romania.
The Kurdish musician has previously collaborated on several parts of the documentary The Silk Road composed by Chinese composer Zhao Zhiping, which was produced by Japan's NHK television.
Keyhan Kalhor has been nominated for four Grammy Awards in previous years with four albums.[1]