Ghader Abdollahzadeh

Ghader Abdollahzadeh (23 October 1925 – 21 May 2009, Kurdish: قادر عەبدوڵڵازادە ,Qadir Ebdulazade,[1][2] also known as Qale Mere,[1] Kurdish: قالەمەڕە[3]) born in village of Kulice in northwestern Iran, is one of the best known Kurdish traditional musicians. He played shimshal/ney (long flute), a Kurdish traditional music instrument. He started to play shimshal (Ney) as a young and homeless man aiming to earn his daily bread. He played on the streets for an unknown number of years until he was an old man and was filmed by a journalist which was published as a documentary. He was known for the long tones he could create and to play for hours without holding breaks.

Qale Mere قالەمەڕە
Background information
Birth name	Ghader Abdollahzadeh
Also known as	Qale Mere
Born	(1925-10-23)October 23, 1925 Kulja, West Azarbaijan, Iran
Died	May 21, 2009(2009-05-21) (aged 83) Bukan, West Azarbaijan, Iran
Genres	Classical Kurdish Music
Instrument(s)	Shimshal (Ney)
Years active	?–2009

As a child, he was a shepherd and it was about this time that he accidentally started by playing shimshal. 'Qale Mere' means `wise` as a sheep, it was a name as the adults in his childhood had given him because of his calm nature. It says little about how hard his childhood was. He was born as a son of a poor shepherd, and died poor. Upon his death, he was not only loved and respected as a musician but his work reached legendary status.