Niloufar Shiri & Bahar Badiei:

Kamancheh player and composer Niloufar Shiri began her musical journey at the Tehran Music Conservatory in Iran. She later immigrated to the USA and pursued her studies in composition at the University of California, San Diego, and Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology (ICIT) at the University of California, Irvine.

Niloufar’s musical world lies at the intersection of classical Iranian music, contemporary music, and improvisation. Her focus revolves around exploring the concept of displacement in relation to familiar and distant environments. Her 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 and places her at the forefront of its practice.

Bahar Badiei is an Iranian Oud player and composer, recently graduated on a full scholarship with a double major in composition and performance from Berklee College of Music. At the age of 12, Bahar began her musical training at the Tehran Music School, where she earned her high school diploma in music. She studied under notable oud players, including Siavash Roshan, Negar Bouban, and Yurdal Tukcan. Bahar won first place at the Iranian Youth National Music Festival for two consecutive years at ages 16 and 17. She has performed as both a performer and composer at numerous venues, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, MCG Jazz, and Groton Hill Music Center, as well as at music festivals in Iran and the United States, collaborating with musicians of diverse backgrounds.

In 2017, Bahar began her undergraduate studies in Oud Performance at the University of Tehran before moving to the United States to study at Berklee. She has studied and worked with acclaimed musicians such as Marti Epstein, Kris Davis, and Alain Mallet, and has been a part of Berklee's Institute of Jazz Gender and Justice since 2022.

Bahar's background contributes to her authentic composition approach, rooted in Iranian classical music, contemporary concert music, and jazz. Currently, she is a member of Danilo Perez's Global Jazz Messengers. She has shared the stage with Grammy-winning, world-renowned musicians, including John Patitucci, Brian Blade, Danilo Perez and Bruno Raberg.

Negar Soley:

Negar Soley is a composer/performer from Tehran, Iran. Her practice spans sound, language, and performance, moving between quiet, delicate moments and bursts of intensity, with an interest in pushing past emotional limits and exploring how a single work — or a single performer — can hold many different selves at once or none at all.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in music composition from Tehran University of Art and completed a master’s degree in Experimental Music/Composition at Wesleyan University in 2025. She is currently a PhD student at Temple University, residing in Philadelphia, where she continues to work on composition projects and commissions while maintaining an active composer-performer practice.

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