Getting through the first anniversary of the music legend Mohammad-Reza Shajarian in Mashhad
He also learned the vocal styles of singers from previous generations, including Reza Gholi Mirza Zelli, Fariborz Manouchehri, Ghamar Molouk Vaziri, Eghbal Azar, and Taj Isfahani. He has cited legendary Persian tar soloist Jalil Shahnaz as highly influential to his development, indicating that he has often tried to mimic Shahnaz’s playing style in his singing. Shajarian had collaborated with musicians such as Parviz Meshkatian, Mohammad Reza Lotfi, Hossein Alizadeh, Faramarz Payvar, Dariush Pirniakan, and Sohrab Pournazeri. He was recognized as a skilled singer in the challenging traditional Dastgah style. In 1999, UNESCO in France presented him with the Picasso Award and in 2006 with the UNESCO Mozart Medal. In 2017, Los Angeles Times cited him as the “Greatest living maestro of Persian classical music”.
