Sahba Aminikia is an Iranian American composer, musician and educator based in San Francisco whose own musical training spanned three continents. He first studied composition in the city of his birth, Tehran, and then relocated to Russia to attend the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. After emigrating as a refugee to San Francisco in 2006, Sahba then earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

His passion for blending genres and cultural influences in his work — he is as well-versed in traditional music from Iran and classical music from Europe as he is in the oeuvres of Pink Floyd and Queen — quickly garnered attention from musicians and ensembles all over the world. Among the performing groups to have commissioned him are Kronos Quartet, Brooklyn Youth Chorus and Symphony Parnassus, and his compositions have been performed all over the world.

Sahba is also the founder and artistic director of the annual Flying Carpet Children Festival that since 2018 has been bringing music — and world-class musicians — as well as circus arts to the Turkish border city of Mardin to delight and engage refugee children from Iraq and Syria.

In this interview with Pier Carlo Talenti, Sahba explains how his own experience as refugee has informed his belief that music is a form of spiritual liberation with the unique ability to unite peoples and cultures across all borders.

https://www.sahbakia.com/

https://www.flyingcarpetfestival.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxDN8k63jJM