SHIRAZ ENSEMBLE

Sepehr Pirasteh is a composer, conductor, and interdisciplinary artist born and raised in Shiraz, Iran. His compositions draw on Persian classical and folk traditions, as well as contemporary classical music vocabularies, to express his deep concerns about the political and social realities of the world. Through his art, Sepehr reflects on his personal journey as an immigrant and his commitment to activism. He has been commissioned and performed by ensembles, including the American Composers Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, MISE-EN Ensemble, Network for New Music, Arcana New Music Ensemble, Pacific Chamber Orchestra, Argus String Quartet, PRISM Saxophone Quartet, and Unheard-of Ensemble. Sepehr has also received fellowships from Harvard University's Fromm Foundation (Composers Conference) and the Presser Foundation. His works have been featured at the Beth Morrison Project's Next-Gen Program at National Sawdust, American Composers' Forum (Philadelphia Chapter), and Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

As a conductor, he has served as the artistic director and conductor of Temple University’s New Music Ensemble, Temple Composers’ Orchestra (TCO), Vintage Community Orchestra in Michigan, Central Michigan University’s New Music Ensemble, CMU Pierrot Ensemble, and Concert Orchestra. Sepehr has also served as a guest conductor for the Philadelphia Civic Symphony, ENA Ensemble and Alter Ego Chamber Opera Company. Throughout his conducting career, Sepehr has been deeply passionate about premiering new works by underrepresented composers.

As an educator, Sepehr currently serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Composition and Director of Bates College Orchestra in Maine. Previously he has taught at Temple University, Jackson Community College, and has served as a faculty member in summer music festivals such as Wildflowers Composers Festival, All City Orchestra, and Play on Philly.

Sepehr pursued his Ph.D. in Composition at Temple University and his Masters' Degrees in Orchestral Conducting and Composition at Central Michigan University, and his Bachelor's in Music Composition at Tehran University of Art.

sepehrpirasteh.com

baharbadiei.com

Bahar Badiei is a Brooklyn-based oudist, composer, and educator from Tehran, Iran. Her work spans jazz, classical music of Iran, contemporary concert music, and free improvisation. Drawing from these musical expressions, she has developed a distinctive voice in both composition and improvisation.

Bahar has toured with Danilo Pérez and the Global Jazz Messengers. She has performed with luminaries including John Patitucci, Brian Blade, Danilo Pérez, and Bruno Råberg.

She has led workshops on Iranian classical music at institutions such as Silkroad and was awarded first place at the Iranian Youth National Music Festival for two consecutive years. She has appeared at venues including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, National Sawdust, and Groton Hill Music Center, as well as at festivals in Iran and the U.S., including the Detroit Jazz Festival and the New York Oud Festival.

A graduate of Berklee College of Music, where she studied on a Presidential Scholarship, she later earned her master’s degree from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. Her master’s thesis was titled Embraced by the Flowing Water: Oud as a Queer Ontology.

All About Jazz has described her as “a master improviser,” describing her playing as “free of tonal constraint.”

Parsa Ferdowsi is a musician and artist — born and raised in Karaj, Iran. He has regularly worked with (and befriended) artists such as Nat Baldwin, Mat Wellins, Michael Pestel, Ramtin Mokhtari, Manuel J. Perez, Shawn O’Sullivan, Eliza Marovitz, Katarina Mazur, Tobias Haus, Sam Boston, Emma Mistele, Loren Wang, Marie Carroll, Xingyan Guo, and Negar Soleymanifar.

He collaborated on some projects with Peter Zummo, David Vantieghem, Alex Waterman (as a part of the Arthur Russell’s City Park project led by Nick Hallet), David Behrman, Nicolas Collins, Lea Bertucci, Wesleyan Laptop Ensemble, Pamplemousse Ensemble, and String Noise Duo. He is also a member and assistant director of artistic planning in Shiraz Ensemble.

He works with sound, space, image, words, expectations, and frames. His works include compositions, photographs, videos, improvisations, performance, poetry, and acting. His compositions usually benefit from use of verbal notations, theatrics, collaborative environments, site-specificity, and collective improvisation. As an improviser, he implements some of his compositional techniques and issues around decision-making alongside the language and affordances of Iranian Dastgahi music.

He is currently studying Music Technology in the graduate program at Temple University. He holds an MA in Experimental Music/Performance from Wesleyan University where he worked with Ron Kuivila, Paula Matthusen, and Neely Bruce, and a BA in Composition from the Tehran University of Art and has years of experience studying santoor and Radif of Iranian Dastgahi music with Majid Kiani.

parsaferdowsi.com

sinahomaee.com

Sina Homaee is a performer and educator based in Philadelphia. His primary instruments are the santoor, tombak, and daf. Before moving to the United States, he served as the director of the Sepidar Ensemble in Shiraz, Iran, where he collaborated with numerous music groups. During his time in Iran, Sina also worked with Fars TV and the Radio Broadcasting Channel. As an educator, he taught at Fazel University of Art and various music institutions in Iran. Sina earned his master’s degree in ethnomusicology from Guilan University in Rasht, Iran, and he holds a bachelor’s degree in Iranian music performance from the Shiraz University of Art. Now living in Philadelphia, he performs with various music ensembles. Sina is also a co-founder of the Shiraz Ensemble and is passionate about integrating different musical cultures and backgrounds.

Noushin Nowroozi is a passionate Kamancheh player who began learning the instrument and developed her technique with Ardeshir Kamkar, later exploring the study of Radif with Sina Jahanabadi. Now based in Philadelphia, she pursued a Master's in Museum Management and works as a Special Collections Specialist at Princeton University’s library. Outside of her work with rare books and archives, Noushin is an active member of Shiraz Ensemble, where she enjoys playing Kamanche, experimenting with new sounds and creative expressions.

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