long version:
I am an Iranian composer, pianist, and educator working at the intersection of Interpretation and experimentation, sound and movement, structure and memory, gesture and integration. Based in Berlin, Germany, I am preparing to begin a new position as Professor of Composition at the University of Art in Tehran, Iran, in Fall 2025. For me, composing is a cultural, philosophical, and political act — an evolving response to both personal and collective experience, even in moments of not composing.
My compositions explore contrasts: structured rhythm and fluid temporality, tonal fragments and noise, Iranian counterpoint and spectralism, complementarity, and non-repetitive minimalism. I aim to create spaces where the fragile and the forceful, the abstract and the familiar can coexist. Many of my recent works are open-form or flexible scores, encouraging interpretation, collaboration, and adaptability — reflecting my belief in collectivity and improvisation within composed frameworks.
As a pianist, I remain engaged with performance, especially the repertoire of the 20th and 21st centuries. This ongoing practice informs my compositional thinking and deepens my engagement with gesture, embodiment, and sonic imagination.
I hold advanced degrees in both composition and piano performance, with studies in Iran and Germany. My academic journey began in Tehran, where I taught myself composition while formally studying piano and Iranian music. Later, I continued my studies in Germany, earning a BA, MA, and Konzertexamen-Diploma in Composition and Chamber Music (Piano).
Over the past decade, I’ve taught music theory, composition, and chamber music at universities, high schools, and through private instruction. Many of my students now study and teach across Europe and North America. Teaching is central to my identity — not only as an educator, but as a collaborator in an ongoing exchange of historical ideas. My approach challenges fixed concepts, encouraging students to discover and build their own artistic voices. I aim to guide them away from standardized models of music-making shaped by the commercial music industry.
Born during the war that Iraq waged against Iran and raised amid political turmoil, collective depression, and economic sanctions, I come from a war-torn, working-class background with no early connection to the arts.
Between 2020 and 2024, I experienced a long period of chronic illness and recovery that profoundly transformed my creative process. I became increasingly drawn to themes such as time, memory, repetition and originality, beauty and ugliness, and remembrance and ignorance. These themes have deeply influenced my compositional style, which embraces repetition without minimalism and emphasizes the balance between structure and improvisation. Resilience, dissociation, and elongation have become central themes in my work.
My music is shaped by Iranian philosophy and aesthetics — the tension between ornamentation and structure, the idea of completion rather than development, and a sense of time as gravity rather than linear progression. I am especially influenced by thinkers like Giorgio Agamben, whose concept of identity as a “whatever being” resonates with my experience of navigating multiple cultures and artistic traditions, as well as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Ramin Jahanbegloo.
I’ve been fortunate to receive awards, scholarships, and residencies that have supported performances of my music by ensembles and soloists in Europe, Asia, and South and North America. These encounters have deepened my awareness of cultural difference, systemic bias, and the importance of dialogue through art.
After developing a deep awareness of the current situation in the academic and artistic scenes, I consciously distance myself from state-sponsored and capitalist models of music mass-production that reduce art to a commodity and distribute performance opportunities unjustly through competitions and exclusionary selection processes.
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short version:
I am an Iranian composer, pianist, and educator working at the intersection of interpretation and experimentation, sound and movement, structure and memory, gesture and integration. Based in Berlin, I will begin a new position as Professor of Composition at the University of Art in Tehran in Fall 2025. For me, composing is both a cultural and philosophical act—an evolving response to personal and collective experience, even in moments of not composing.
My compositions explore contrasts: structured rhythm and fluid temporality, tonal fragments and noise, Iranian counterpoint and spectralism, complementarity, and non‑repetitive minimalism. I seek to create spaces where the fragile and the forceful, the abstract and the familiar coexist. Many of my recent works feature open‑form or flexible scores that encourage interpretation and collaboration, reflecting my belief in collectivity and improvisation within composed frameworks.
As a pianist, I remain active performing 20th‑ and 21st‑century repertoire, which informs my compositional process and deepens my engagement with gesture, embodiment, and sonic imagination.
I hold advanced degrees in composition, Iranian music, and piano performance from institutions in Iran and Germany. Over the past decade, I have taught music theory, composition, and chamber music at universities, high schools, and through private instruction. I encourage students to develop their own artistic voices, moving beyond standardized models of music shaped by the commercial industry and competition‑driven pathways.
My work is also shaped by Iranian philosophy and aesthetics—particularly the tension between ornamentation and structure, the idea of completion rather than development, and a sense of time as gravity rather than linear progression.