Estonian-based composer and conductor Arash Yazdani (b. 1985) has studied at, among others, The Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Hochschule für Musik Basel and Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre; and has earned degrees in piano, double bass, orchestral conducting and composition specialties. In 2020 he was a recipient of the Jonathan Harvey Scholarship, in this year he was awarded a doctorate from the University of Huddersfield. Previously, Yazdani has been a research residency fellow at Institut für Elektronische Musik und Akustik Graz. Arash is artistic director of Sound Plasma, a festival for alternative intonation music held in Berlin and Tallinn. As a guest conductor he has worked with several ensembles including NeuverBand Ensemble, Ensemble Linea, Ensemble U:, Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, International Ensemble Modern Academy.
He is Artistic director and conductor of Ensemble for New Music Tallinn; and collaborates as curator with several music festivals in Europe. Yazdani’s music is recognised by its application of the acoustic and psycho-acoustic phenomena on the fabric of music, and creating unique hearing experience with the use of instruments. He has written pieces for Ensemble Phoenix Basel, Ensemble Proton Bern, Ensemble Lemniscate, Ensemble U:, Defunensemble, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Schallfeld Ensemble, Ensemble du Bout du Monde, Resonabilis etc. His music has featured in the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele, MIXTUR Festival Barcelona, MATA festival New York, ISCM world music days festival, CrossRoads International festival Salzburg, AFEKT festival, World Saxophone Congress, L’Archipel festival, Kiev Contemporary Music Days, Royaumont Abbey foundation, Estonian Music Days, ReMusik Festival St Petersburg, Vertixe Vigo, AFEKT, Darmstadt ferienkurse, Tallinn Music Week etc.
His orchestra piece NAKBA (2018) was selected to represent Estonia in the International Rostrum of Composers in 2019 and Hurreh (2022) for 12 voices in the same contest in 2022. He won the first prize at composition competition Welcoming Maqam in Berlin 2016. Among his accolades and awards are first prize in the composition competition Speech, Text, Silence of ensemble Lemniscate in Basel (2015), honorary diploma from Sergei Slonimsky composition competition (2015); Gold Coin national award for best art school diploma from Iranian ministry of culture.
Photo: Rene Jakobson