Bridges: Safa Shahidi's Music from East to West

Diaspora Arts Connection is honored to present "Bridges: Safa Shahidi's Music from East to West" on Saturday, June 29, 2024 at The Green Room at San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center. Accomplished Iranian pianist and composer Safa Shahidi will present his soulful arrangements and composition which visit Persian melodies within the framework of Western classical music and create a cultural bridge between East and West. Join us for an unforgettable night of music and community.

About Safa Shahidi:

Inspired by Folklore and traditional Persian music, Safa Shahidi is an accomplished pianist and composer. He has been performing for more than two decades in the Middle East,
Europe, and the United States of America playing a vast repertoire from Scarlatti, Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Scriabin, to his
own compositions.

Through his music you can find oriental intervals, rhythms and melodies conveyed within the framework of Western classical music which creates a blend of sounds bringing East and West culture together.

He has composed a volume of works for piano solo, two pianos, chamber music and orchestra.A Suite Orchestral, Fantasy in Three Movements for Piano and Strings and an individual short piece for flute, cello and the piano commissioned by Orfeus Trio are among his compositions.

Born in 1973 in Tehran, Safa began playing the piano since his childhood. He received his professional piano lessons and theories of music under Mehran Rouhani (Postgraduate from Royal Academy of Music). He earned the Performer's Certificate in Pianoforte from Trinity College of London and the A-level of music from Oxford and Cambridge Examinations and
Assessment Council. He also participated in master courses of piano held by Prof. Gerhard Geretschlaeger (Professor of Vienna Conservatory), and continued his piano lessons under Haynoush Makarian, one of the most renowned piano teacher in Iran. He studied composition with Mehran Rouhani and has been benefited with encouragements and instructions of
Farhad Abbassian-Milani (Professor at Musikschule Charlottenburg, Berlin) and Mohsen Mirmehdi. 

Safa founded Two Pianos Ensemble in collaboration with Bahareh Komai (one of the well-known Iranian pianists) to found a Two Pianos ensemble. For about ten years they performed the most significant two pianos' pieces among them, Suite for Two Pianos op.15 by A. Arensky, Rondo for two pianos op.73 by Chopin, Armenian Rhapsody by Arno Babadjanian, Variations on a Theme of Paganini by W. Lutoslawsky, and many arrangements such as The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky, Espana by E. Chabrier, Carnival of the Animals by Saint Saens and Spanish works of M. De Falla and Infante.

For over 20 years, Safa Shahidi has been a private piano instructor and has received reviews and recommendations from his students; many of them are successful musicians today. In 2014 he moved to United States and continued composing, teaching and performing. 

He joined UCLA Core Kidney Music Program as performer and consultant to assist with kidney awareness. His musical background is a unique part of the Green Ribbon campaign, raising awareness by bringing together music and the medical knowledge on kidney disease. As a composer/performer and consultant of the Clinical Music Program, he contributes his musical expertise with the knowledge of kidney-specialist physicians to open the dialogue around prevention and to slow down the progression of kidney disease in our society.