Born in 1995, Niloufar Shahbazi is a London based composer and Kamānche player whose artistic life is a dynamic conversation between the modal traditions of Persian classical music and the contemporary sonic landscape.
Her formal education began at the Tehran High School of Music, where she started learning Kamānche. She was fortunate to train under the guidance of masters, including Ardeshir Kamkar, Negar Kharkan, and Navid Dehghan.
She holds a Master of Arts degree in Music Composition an MA from the University of Tehran (2022), which was fully funded. She also studied music composition at Codarts Rotterdam (2024), a period supported by multiple awards, including the Van Beek Scholarship and the Holland Scholarship. She has studied under the supervision of masters including Sara Abazari, Arman Norouzi, Hans Koolmes, René Uijlenhoet, and Joachim Heintz.
To date, she has composed works, including pieces for soloists, duets, chamber ensembles, orchestral works, and multimedia projects. Her works have been commissioned, performed, and published in several countries, Iran, the Netherlands, Mexico, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the USA. Her skills have been recognized with international awards, including a prize from the Petrichor International Music Competition (2022).
As a performer, Niloufar has an active international career for over ten years, participating in more than 100 concerts, festivals, and recording projects. She has performed as a Kamānche and Alto Kamānche player in diverse projects, including the INGAH Project, Codarts World Music Orchestra, Ghamar ensemble, Khorshid ensemble. She has appeared at festivals and events in Germany, the Netherlands, Iran, Italy, Russia, and the United Kingdom, and has performed on notable albums and such as “The Cultural Sound Blocks of Humanity Vol. 1” (Berlin, 2024), “Blind Date” (Rotterdam, 2023), and “Cut Your Hair” (Berlin, 2023).
Since 2021, she has been an active member of Yarava Music Group. As a Music Projects Coordinator, her responsibilities have included coordinating artist schedules, managing communications, and producing promotional and documentation content. She was Artistic Director of TIEMF for the 2024–2025 years.