The school music teacher gave him extra courses to teach him to read notes, and also learn Kurdish and Persian modes (Maqam).

The rich Kurdish folksong and his background helped him to become close friends and collaborate with prominent Iranian composers and conductors such as Morteza Hannaneh, Yousefzamani, Mojtaba Mirzadeh, Ali Tajvidi, Kasravi, and Naseri.

He left Iran after the Iranian Revolution when any type of music not containing Islamic verses was declared sinful.

Mazhar continued with music in exile and gave his oppressed nation hope and happiness in the hardest of times when the Iraqi regime started to commit genocide against the Kurds.

In reply to a question on how the Kurds can achieve their cultural and political rights within the four countries with a Kurdish population — Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey — Khaliqi said, “Given globalization, it is inevitable that there will be compromises.