Persian classical music is a complex expressive art form based on multi-sectional modal structures and melody-types, incorporating improvisation within a range of compositional genres. Historically, the music’s richly elaborated theory has been tacitly transmitted through the master-apprentice model where learning is based on imitation, memorisation and repetition of melodic forms within a model repertory known as radīf. Lack of agreement over theoretical principles and their codification has made Persian music challenging to learn, especially for those who are not immersed in the Iranian context. This study was inspired by a series of collaborative creative projects the researcher initiated with non-Iranian musicians after immigrating to Australia from Iran in 2009, in the context of which she was frequently asked to explain the workings of the Persian classical music system. Qualitative and autoethnographic in nature, its action-oriented research approach set out to devise, test and evaluate an efficient and effective cross-cultural means of transmitting the foundational tenets of Persian classical music to people living in time-challenged contexts outside Iran, one that did not compromise the music’s integrity. Musical content – theoretical concepts and repertoire – was organised and delivered in a series of workshops to two contrasting participant streams. Stream 1 involved non-Persian vocalists and instrumentalists who had attained at least a university undergraduate entry-level performance standard. It incorporated players of non-Persian instruments to expand the timbral palate. Stream 2 involved Persian non-musicians who were members of Sydney’s Iranian community and concentrated solely on voice. The workshop streams ran concurrently and for the most part independent of each other, although they converged for culminating performances. Adopting the role of teacher, the researcher developed and delivered the content in successive phases, each of which increased in the level of detail, difficulty and sophistication, and in the case of Stream 1, involved progressively fewer participants. Workshops and concerts were either video or audio recorded, and a two-way evaluation of the teaching and learning process was conducted.On the one hand, the research-teacher closely examined and reflected upon the instructional flow, identified key moments of pedagogical interaction with the participants, and then refined particular aspects for subsequent workshops in an attempt to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the transmission process. On the other, participants in the project evaluated the teaching and learning process by way of brief surveys and semi-structured interviews, which data were coded and analysed in order to determine the extent to which the transmission process was effective, specifically with regard to striking an optimum balance of theoretical and practical knowledge and competence. One unanticipated outcome was the intercultural synergy that resulted from merging the two instructional streams in the rehearsals for the culminating concerts, and for the actual performances.