Omid Darvish was born into a family with Kurdish roots in Tehran, growing up in a multicultural atmosphere where music and the arts were held in great esteem. From childhood on music would play an essential and formative role in his life. At the age of ten he began playing the violin, which would become his main instrument for many years. At the age of 18 the tanbur, one of the oldest Iranian instruments, attracted his attention. Among his numerous tanbur teachers, Heidar Kaki and Mirvahid Radfar were soon to become the most influential. Omid also took lessons in traditional Iranian singing from Ali Khodaei and Mehdi Emami and later – after moving to Austria – expanded his musical understanding and repertoire of expression by taking lessons in jazz-vocals from Martina Petz, lessons in jazz-harmony from Uli Datler and lessons in classical composition from Arash Teymurian. In 2017, he founded Kurdophone, a multi-national ensemble, blending Kurdish traditional music with jazz and other Western styles.
Performance highlights:
Salam Orient Festival Vienna, Rudolstadt – Festival Rudolstadt, Porgy & Bess Vienna, Péniche Anako Paris, murSZENE Graz, RadioKulturhaus Vienna