The Story
Mahyar
Mahyar is a handpan artist originally from Iran, now based in the Netherlands. For him, the handpan is a way to channel emotion directly — each performance feels less like a fixed piece and more like a real-time translation of whatever he’s feeling, channeled through steel.
He picked up the handpan almost four years ago and taught himself entirely without a teacher. What drew him to the instrument was its openness to improvisation — the freedom to wander, build tension, and release it in the moment, rather than follow a fixed structure. His signature sound centers on the HIJAZ scale, an Eastern mode whose dramatic, unresolved quality suits his intuitive, feeling-first approach to playing.
Beyond performing, Mahyar is a recognized expert in the handpan community and now teaches the instrument himself. He also consults people entering the handpan world for the first time — helping them figure out where to start, and which scale and instrument suit them best, drawing on his own self-taught path.
Joining the collective, Mahyar brings technical command of the handpan, a playing style built on improvisation, and a teaching practice rooted in real, hard-won experience.
Check out his artist profile on Instagram
Mahyar
Mahyar is a handpan artist based in Netherlands.