Niloufar Shiri
Short Bio:
Niloufar Shiri is a Kamancheh player, composer, and improviser whose musical world lies at the intersection of classical Iranian music, contemporary music, and experimental improvisation. Her focus revolves around exploring the concept of displacement in relation to familiar and distant environments. Niloufar’s music closely examines textural and timbral spaces, drawing inspiration from staggered pitch relations found in the Radif, as well as bird sounds, noise, and feedback. Her unique and radical approach to Kamancheh performance significantly expands the sonic capabilities of the instrument, placing her at the forefront of its practice.
Niloufar has showcased her work both as a composer and performer at numerous prestigious venues and festivals across the United States, Canada, France, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Mexico City. Her pieces have been performed by acclaimed ensembles such as the JACK Quartet, Del Sol Quartet, International Contemporary Ensemble, Loadbang Ensemble, Eclipse Quartet, Hub New Music, LAMNTH, and the San Diego Symphony. She has been featured in renowned festivals such as Mostly Mozart, Ojai Music Festival, Long Beach Festival, Hear Now Festival, LACMA, Tehran Contemporary Music Festival, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Festival POTE, Angel City Jazz Festival, Sled Island Festival, Roulette, National Sawdust, and Skirball NYU, among others.
As an active Kamancheh performer and researcher, Niloufar has conducted numerous lectures and residencies on Kamancheh performance and extended techniques at institutions including Pomona College, Stanford University, University of California San Diego, University of California Irvine, North Carolina State University, Tehran Azad University, Longy School of Music, Seoul Institute of the Arts, and Jordan Center for Persian Studies, among others.
Niloufar holds degrees from the University of California, San Diego in music composition, and the University of California, Irvine, where she studied composition and Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology (ICIT). She has a strong foundation in Traditional Iranian music, having graduated from the Tehran Music Conservatory. During her time at UC Irvine, she served as a Research Assistant focusing on a new pedagogical approach to learning Radif and developing a website, Pish-radif.com, aimed at teaching the Iranian musical systems in Radif. This research was supported by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Niloufar is currently pursuing her PhD in composition at the University of Minnesota.