ABOUT

Winner of the 2024 Hoefer Prize, Composer, Conductor, Instrumentalist, and Educator Shahab Paranj, an Iranian-born composer, holds degrees in music composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and the University of California, Los Angeles. He is considered
one of the pioneers among his generation of Iranian composers whose composition style integrates Persian and Western composition techniques. Known as a tombak virtuoso, he has performed, recorded, and collaborated with some of the most celebrated artists worldwide. Praised by the San Francisco
Examiner as “extraordinary” and acclaimed by composer John Adams for his “unique voice,” Paranj’s compositions distinctly diverge from Eurocentric conventions, drawing inspiration primarily from the vibrant traditions of Persian music. Recent commissions include works for ensembles such as the Delirium Musicum, Russian String Orchestra, Intersection Contemporary Music Ensemble, Long Beach Opera, Jâca Duo, Aleron Trio, San Francisco New Music Ensemble, One Great City Duo, MSM Symphony Orchestra, and international Low Brass Trio. Additionally, he has composed an original score for the movie “Dressage,” which won the 2018 feature film (generation category) at the Berlin Film Festival.
As a scholar, his main research focus lies in the Iranian Avazi Style, and he has presented on this topic in various seminars, including the SEM, AMS, and SMT 2022 joint annual meeting. He has received formal recognition from the Mehr Humanitarian Society (2010) and the City and County of San Francisco (2011).
Paranj is a founder and music director of The Iranshahr Orchestra and the artistic director of “du vert à l’infini,” a contemporary music festival in the Franche-Comte region of France. He currently serves as a faculty member at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.