Dariush Dolat-shahi is an Iranian-American composer and instrumentalist on the tar, the traditional Persian lute. His compositions include electronic and instrumental music as well as music for traditional Persian instruments. Dolat-Shahi studied classical Persian music at the Tehran Conservatory before leaving Iran for the Amsterdam Conservatory of Music and eventually earning a Ph.D from the legendary Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center where he studied under Mario Davidovsky, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Alice Shields amongst others.