Yahir Montes is a multi-instrumentalist New York City based musician known for his work as a guitarist, bassist, composer and arranger. Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, Yahir has created music with artists working across a variety of media, including collaborations on theatre, dance and film. In 2022, he released his debut EP, Vivencias, which he has performed live in various venues throughout Mexico and the United States. 

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Yahir has been actively studying and teaching music since the age of 14, when he entered Colima’s Instituto Universitario de Bellas Artes. After receiving a Bachelors in Music (with an honorable mention) he studied at the Universidad Tito Puente in Puebla, where he was awarded a Masters degree in Composition and Arrangement. Yahir has trained with a variety of internationally renowned musicians, including Alfonso Aguirre, Marco de Santi, Alberto Vingiano, Carlos Larrauri, Dúo Kupinski, and Giuliano Bellotti. Particularly influential was his time under the tutelage of Italian guitarist and composer Simone Iannarelli.
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Since moving to the United States, he has worked on various projects, including Venezuelan artist Miguel Anggelo’s LatinXOXO, ICONS, Jaime Lozano’s Frida, The Musical, ROJA, Desaparecidas and Broadway in Spanglish, and with Calpulli, a dance company who brings Mexican folk dance to audiences in New York City. This has allowed him to perform at classic venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, in Times Square as part of Times Square Live, at the Public Theatre’s Joe’s Pub, and MASS MoCA, among others. He worked closely with Linda Briceño, the first woman to ever win the Latin Grammy Award for Producer of the Year.

As as an arranger and producer, Yahir has worked on projects including the Netflix film New York Christmas Wedding (2020), for which he arranged and produced two songs; new works for La Cassandra, Jaime Lozano, DILIA, Lee Cadena; and the premier of an hour of unpublished original classical music for different ensembles and instrumental configurations, as part of the inaugural Jornada de la Musica, which he organized at the Pinacoteca Universitaria del Estado de Colima.
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He has received various accolade for his work, including the José Rolón award from the Instituto Universitario de Bellas Artes, which recognized him as the best student of his generation and the award for "Mejor Interprete Local" (2014) at Colima’s international Guitarromanía festival. In 2021, Yahir was awarded a PECDA Grant to produce original classical compositions inspired by the history and culture of Colima, Mexico.