Press kit, Sahba Aminikia · Press kit, official use
Composer | Improvisor | TED Fellow | 2025 Aga Khan Music Award Laureate A laureate of the 2025 Aga Khan Music Award, a TED Fellow, Iranian-American composer Sahba Aminikia has established himself as an artist singularly equipped to interpret the complexities of our time, creating music that functions as both a visceral human experience and a catalyst for social change. Born in post-revolutionary wartime Iran, Aminikia’s creative voice was forged amidst a turbulent socio-political environment, shaping an oeuvre that navigates the dualities of light and darkness, hope and despair. His distinct sonic language—deeply influenced by the Persian poetry of Hafiz, Rumi, and Saadi, yet equally indebted to the energy of Pink Floyd, Queen, and the improvisational spirit of jazz—transcends cultural boundaries to foster dialogue and enlightenment. This synthesis of Eastern philosophy and Western contemporary form is rooted in a rigorous education that spans continents; beginning under the mentorship of Mehran Rouhani and Nikan Milani in Iran, he continued his studies at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory in Russia under Boris Ivanovich Tishchenko, a protégé of Dmitri Shostakovich. He later engaged in advanced studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as a Phyllis Wattis Foundation scholar, refining his craft with David Garner, Dan Becker, and David Conte, while receiving guidance from luminaries such as David Harrington, John Corigliano, and Aleksandra Vrebalov. Over the course of the last twenty years, Aminikia has created 85 works and commissions, a prolific output championed by widely acclaimed ensembles, most notably the Kronos Quartet, for whom he served as artist-in-residence at the 2017 Kronos Festival, San Francisco Girls Chorus, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Shahram Nazeri, Mahsa Vahdat, Marjan Vahdat and ZOFO Duet.
