Mohammad Eghbal was born on 10.04.1940 in Teheran, as son of a publisher. His father published papers and books about philosophy, poetry and mysticism. While he was still at school, one morning he met a dervish, playing on his reed pipe and singing verses by the Persian mystic Rumi. This left a deep impression on him and the yearning for this attitude towards life always remained deep in his mind.
One day he found a plastic flute among his nephews toys and went on playing on it for days. Playing the flute gave him a new sensation, and when he passed his school-leaving exams, he already mastered violin, mandolin, drums and transverse flute.
In 1960 Mohammad came to Germany to study architecture, and in the meantime was also mastering Tar, Charango and various native American flutes. One day a friend, who had travelled in the Arabian countries, brought him a Ney, an instrument he had been dreaming of since his childhood. Mohammad tried to play it, put had to put it aside, as he yet lacked understanding for this instrument.
After having finished his studies, he and his family moved to Persia/Iran. A few months later his wife and children returned to Germany and Mohammad stayed with his aged mother. During this time he composed many songs for the Persian Oud (lute). After his mother’s death he returned to Düsseldorf to join his family. The only object which he was allowed to take with him from Iran was his Oud.
Together with his friend Ali, Mohammad discovered meditative music and tried to discover new forms of expression on the traversal flute. He again came into contact with the verses of Rumi, which had accompanied him throughout his childhood, but only then did he become fully aware of the deeper meaning of this mystical poetry. The wheel turned full circle when a friend of his brought him a piece of reed from Greece.
Mohammad experimented with this piece of reed and made his first Ney. From this moment he was striving to perfect this simple instrument, that is yet so unbelievably difficult to master. His understanding of Rumi's work and his deeper insight the relations of life made the Ney come to life and start to sing.
Mohammad experimented with this piece of reed and made his first Ney. From this moment he was striving to perfect this simple instrument, that is yet so unbelievably difficult to master. His understanding of Rumi's work and his deeper insight the relations of life made the Ney come to life and start to sing.
Since 1985 Mohammad Eghbal has been living in Upper Austria together with his wife and son. He has set up a studio and is holding seminars and workshops. In 1989 he founded the world music project AHURA and has since given many concerts all over Europe and in the USA.
Mohammad Eghbal and his group AHURA are treading new paths in order to be able to convey this sound message without ever forgetting the origins. Mohammad plays various instruments and has had a good look at many of them in the course of his life, above all at the VIOLIN. But the most important means of expression is his VOICE, with which he performs and improvises mystical texts of Sufi-poets (f.ex.: Rumi, Baba Taher, Omar Khayyam, Saadi, Sanai, Shabestari, Hafez...), accompanied by the almond-shaped oriental OUD or the three-stringed CETAR.
Mohammad also masters the Persian NEY (reed pipe), a wind instrument extremely difficult to play, because sounds are produced in the mouth by exact control of exhalation, which requires a very special breathing technique. It takes at least 10 years of intensive practice to roughly master this instrument. Mohammad makes his Neys himself to be able to achieve the best sound quality. The Ney can be found in the classic as well as the popular oriental music, but above all in the esoteric tradition and it speaks directly to the human soul with its multiple soft and husky sounds.
All Mohammad’s pieces are his own compositions, interpreted in a new way during each concert, but leaving the musicians enough freedom for improvisation. Thus the pieces develop into a unique performance each time. Mohammad/AHURA plays in varying line-ups on the stage: as a solo artist, together with his wife, accompanying him on the Bohemian harp and/or with percussion (DOMBAK) and VOCALS. He tries to communicate with instruments and musicians from other culture areas and has been cooperating with a group of 5 to 6 musicians for several years, integrating different instruments like Cello, Didgeridoo, Saxophones, Hang and keyboards.
Since 1989 Mohammad Eghbal did many concerts in Europe and USA together with his wife and with the ensemble AHURA and participated in various cultural cross-over projects for inter-religious understanding:
