Jean During is emeritus research director at the CNRS (LESC/CREM) and a specialist in the musical cultures of Central Asia.

He spent more than fifteen years in Inner Asia and is the author of a dozen works on the music of this region, particularly in its relationship with Muslim society, thought, ritual practices and mysticism.

He was trained in several Eastern musical traditions, and has produced some sixty CDs covering an area from Turkey to Xinjiang.

His approach is also that of a musician who, in eleven years of living in Iran and five in Central Asia, acquired from the best masters, a practical training in Persian and Baluchi traditions which he made known through numerous concerts.