Aftab Darvishi

Aftab Darvishi achieved international recognition following her 2016 victory in the Tenso Young Composers Award, the first female winner. A multi-instrumentalist trained in violin, kamancheh (traditional Persian instrument), and piano, Darvishi studied music performance at the University of Tehran before pursuing composition studies in Amsterdam and The Hague, while also developing expertise in Carnatic (South Indian) music. Her music weaves together Western classical training with deep Persian influences, exploring themes of cultural identity and transcontinental dialogue. Darvishi was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1987 into a musical family. Her father, Mohammad-Reza Darvishi, was a composer and music scholar, an artistic lineage that profoundly shaped her approach to music-making. Aftab began violin lessons at age five, and as she matured musically, she expanded her instrumental palette to include the kamancheh, a traditional Persian bowed instrument central to Iranian classical music, and classical piano. This trilingual instrumental training became foundational to her mature artistic voice, which refuses traditional categorization. At 19, Darvishi enrolled at the University of Tehran to study music performance. Her instructors, Kiawasch Saheb Nassagh and Azin Movahed, shaped her understanding of the performer's craft. Upon graduation with honors, rather than pursuing a conventional solo career, she pursued collaborative work across artistic disciplines. She began working with artists in theater, animation, and film, experiences that broadened her compositional thinking beyond the concert hall. In 2010, Darvishi relocated to Amsterdam to study composition for film at the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam. Working closely with directors from the Nederlands Film en Televisie Academie under the supervision of Jurre Haanstra, she earned her Master's degree in 2012. She continued advanced composition studies at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague (2013-2015) under Martijn Padding and Yannis Kyriakides, while also studying Carnatic music, the classical music tradition of South India, at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. The turning point in Darvishi's international visibility came in October 2016 when she won the Tenso Young Composers Award, for her piece And the world stopped Lacking You.... This victory was historically significant because she was the first female composer to win the award. The recognition accelerated her professional trajectory. In 2017, she was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet to compose a piece for "50 for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire", a project designed to create contemporary chamber music for student ensembles. She contributed Daughters of Sol, a work inspired by a poem by contemporary Iranian poet Ahmad Shamloo, exploring themes of cycles, transformation, and the interplay between light and shadow. Beyond the quartet commission, Darvishi's compositional output expanded across multiple media. She composed for theater productions, addressing mythological women given voice through music projects, emphasizing her commitment to using composition as a vehicle for social narrative. She has created works for various ensemble configurations, including orchestral music, chamber works, and solo pieces. Notable compositions include Map of Freedom (2023), Only Violets Remain, premiered by the Phion ensemble, and numerous collaborative projects with dance companies and visual artists at residencies in Milan, Athens, and Syros. In 2022, she released her debut album A Thousand Butterflies on 30M Records, a portrait album documenting her 11-year compositional journey, spanning concert music, film scores, and works with electronics. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter selected her piece Likoo to open her 2026 album East Meets West on Alpha Classics. ~ Prince Iwundu