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Dariush Dolat-Shahi (born 1947 in Tehran) is an Iranian-American composer and instrumentalist known for his work on the tar, a traditional Persian lute. He studied traditional Persian and Western music at a conservatory during his childhood and graduated from the Tehran Conservatory in 1968, where he studied under Alireza Mashayekhi. Dolat-Shahi conducted a band in the Army before traveling to Amsterdam in 1970 to study and compose electronic music. His notable works from this period include "Two Movements for String Orchestra" and "Mirage for orchestra and tape," both of which were performed at the Shiraz Art Festival in Iran. After returning to Tehran in 1974, he moved to New York City to study at Columbia University, where he was influenced by composers at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, such as Vladimir Ussachevky and Milton Babbitt. He completed his doctorate at Columbia in 1981 and continued his compositional work at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he was supported by Bülent Arel. Several of his works from this time were released on a Folkways recording. Following the 1979 revolution, Dolat-Shahi lost Iranian government student subsidies and turned to designing album covers. He later relocated to Portland, Oregon, where he taught at various universities before becoming a freelance performer and composer, drawing inspiration from a diverse range of world cultural traditions.

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