Biography of Ghazaleh Shahparrad
Ghazaleh Shahparrad, born in Tehran, began playing classical guitar in 2007 and was admitted to Tehran Music University three years later. She won the best chamber music prize at the 2010 Tehran Guitar Festival and was nominated as the best guitarist by the Austrian Embassy in Tehran in 2014. In 2017, she started studying at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna under Prof. Jorges Panetsos.
Ghazaleh has participated in masterclasses with esteemed guitarists like Marcin Dylla, Göran Söllscher, Zoran Dukić, and many others. In recent years, she has performed as a solo artist and with various ensembles in multiple European cities.
From Tehran to Europe
Ghazaleh Shahparrad represents a growing generation of classical guitarists from the Middle East and Central Asia whose training in the European classical tradition has produced performers of genuine distinction. Born in Tehran, she pursued her guitar studies with a rigour that earned her admission to Tehran Music University within three years of beginning the instrument — a rapid progression that speaks to both natural ability and disciplined practice. Her competition success opened the door to advanced European study, and her subsequent career as both performer and teacher reflects the global reach of the classical guitar tradition today. The instrument's ability to cross cultural boundaries — speaking a universal formal language while carrying the marks of individual national character — makes her career a particularly resonant example of that reach.
