Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, Aida Shirazi is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music. Shirazi’s music is described as”unfolding with deliberation” by The New York Times, “well-made” and “affecting” by The New Yorker, and “unusually creative” by San Francisco Classical Voice.
In her works for solo instruments, voice, ensemble, orchestra, and electronics she mainly focus on timbre for organizing structures that are often inspired by Persian or English languages and literature, as well as Iranian classical music.
Shirazi’s music has been featured at festivals and concert series including Manifeste, Mostly Mozart, MATA, New Music Gathering, Direct Current, Taproot New Music Festival, and Tehran Contemporary Music Festival in venues such as Maison de la Radio France, Lincoln Center, and Kennedy. Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Miranda Cuckson, International Contemporary Ensemble, Quince Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Empyrean Ensemble, and Bilkent Symphony Orchestra are among the interpreters of her works.
Currently, Shirazi is a Ph.D. candidate in music theory composition at the University of California, Davis, and works with Mika Pelo. She has studied with Pablo Ortiz, Kurt Rohde, Yiğit Aydın, Tolga Yayalar, Onur Türkmen, and Hooshyar Khayam. Shirazi holds her B.A. in classical piano from Tehran University of Art (Iran), and her B.M. in music composition and theory from Bilkent University (Turkey). During the years 1998-2004, she studied santoor (traditional Iranian hammered dulcimer) with Parissa Khosravi Samani. Shirazi is a participant of IRCAM’s “Cursus Program in Composition and Computer Music” in the academic year 2021-22.
She is a co-founder and board member of the Iranian Female Composers Association (IFCA).
CGI Animation by Qmars Kalami
