Born in 1979, Ziya Tabassian starts learning tombak (a Persian percussion) at the age of ten. From 1994 to 2001 he studied western classical percussion with Julien Grégoire in Montreal, and has completed a Bachelor degree in percussion interpretation at the Université de Montréal. In 2003, he completed a residency at the Banff Centre for the arts, where he explored the contemporary music on the Persian percussions. He continues to search his own style by studying on short periods with Bahman Rajabi (Tehran), Aziz Alami (Fez), Trichy Sankaran (Toronto) and Misirli Ahmet (Istanbul).
He plays in several early, contemporary and world music ensembles and is an active and a co-fonder member of Constantinople ensemble (www.constantinople.ca). Ziya has performed several concerts in Canada, Mexico, Europe, the U.S.A., Middle East and Hong Kong.
He has received several grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. He released many CDs in duo with his brother, Kiya Tabassian and Constantinople on the ATMA label, and recorded for many other productions, such with the Kronos Quartet, Hossein Omoumi, En Chordais, Mercan Dede, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and Lo’Jo. He is frequently heard on CBC Radio and Radio-Canada. In 2007, he released his first solo album called TOMBAK, on Ambiances Magnétiques label.