Biography

Arshia Samsaminia (*1989 Tehran, Iran)

He studied contemporary composition at the Sibelius Academy of Music in Finland, the

University of Gothenburg in Sweden, UDK University of Arts in Berlin, the Estonian Academy

of Music and Theatre, and Tbilisi State Music Conservatory under the supervision of Helena

Tulve, Malin Bång, Manolis Vlitakis, Tapio Tuomela, Ole Lutzüow Holm, Maka Virsalaze and

etc.

Currently, Samsaminia is a Ph.D. candidate at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece

under the supervision of Professor Dimitri Papageorgiou and Professor Caspar Johannes Walter

of the University of Science and Arts in Basel.

During his training at the International Young Composers Academy in Ticino, Switzerland, under

the supervision of Oscar Bianchi and Dimitri Kourldianski, he was awarded a full scholarship as

a trained composer. In addition, he was a finalist/nominee for the Jonathan Harvey Award/

Scholarship 2020 at Huddersfield University in the United Kingdom. In 2022, he was the

resident composer at the Klangteppich Festival in Berlin, which the German Federal Cultural

Foundation funded.

Samsaminia has collaborated with well-known ensembles such as Klangforum Wien Ensemble,

Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Ensemble Garage, Stockholm Saxophone Quartet,

Trio Estatico (Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Recherche), Trio

Saeitenwind, Ljubljana contemporary chamber, KLART Ensemble, EMTA Tallinn Sinfonietta,

HSM Symphonic and Opera Orchestra Gothenburg, Hanatsu Miroir Strassbourg, Lódź Academy

Symphony Orchestra, Sepia Ensemble, Omnibus Ensemble, Collettivo_21 and etc.

Many of his compositions have been presented and performed at festivals, including the

Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Musica Nova Helsinki 2023, reMusik, OutHear

Festival, Gaudeamus fest, Sound and Images New York, Ticino Musica 2019, Crossroads,

Poznań Contemporary, Mixtur Festival, UNM Iceland, Sound of Stockholm, ICMC Korea,

Tehran contemporary music festival, Eufonija, Siren Festival Gothenburg, etc.

He attended Masterclasses held by Georg Friedrich Haas, Oscar Bianchi, Dimitri Kourldianski,

Rebecca Saunders, Karlheinz Essl, Pierluigi Billone ,Alexander Schubert, Tristan Murail, John

Chowning, José Sánchez-Verdú, Klaus Lang, Dror Feiler, etc.

His music has been performed in Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Poland, Iceland,

USA, Italy, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Serbia, etc.

.

Curriculum Vitae

Education:

2020-2026 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Ph.D Candidate in Music Composition
2019 UDK Berlin University of Arts, Exchange Student MA in Music Composition, Germany
2018-2019 Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama, Exchange student MA in Music Composition, Sweden
2017-2018 Estonian Academy of Music, MA in Music Composition, Estonia
2016-2017 Sibelius Academy of Music, Music Composition, Finland, Exchange/BA
2012-2016 Tbilisi State Music Conservatoire, Bachelor, Music Composition, Georgia
2004-2009 Tehran Music School of Suoreh, High School Diploma in Music, Iran

Official Jury Member at Music Composition competitions / Guest Lecturer

Guest Lecturer at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm 2024
Artistic Committee at the Sound and Music Computing Festival 2024, Porto, Portugal
Guest Lecturer at the Sibelius Academy of Music, Helsinki, Finland 2023
Guest Lecturer at Eufonija Festival 2023, Novisad Serbia
Guest Lecturer at the Elon University of North Carolina, Composition for Piano 2023
Jury member at Eufonija Festival 2021 Festival for accordion and chamber music, Novi-Sad, Serbia
Jury member at Gilgamesh Composition competition among the other jury members such as Du Yun and Thomas Kotcheff
Jury member, guest composer and lecturer at Petrichor Records Composition Competition for Young Composers 2020, among names like Chaya Czernowin, Katharina Rosenberger, Nina C. Young, etc.
Main Jury member at Noise A Noise Electronic Record Lable call for artists 2020
Guest Lecturer at Eufonija Festival 2021, Novi-Sad, Serbia
Guest Lecturer at Kanch International Music Festival 2021, Yerevan Armenia
Guest Lecturer at Tehran University of Arts, 2021
Guest Lecturer at Tehran University Music Department / Composition Faculty 2018

Scholarships and Awards

2024 Winning composer at Remus Georgescu International Composing Competition 2024, Timisoara, Romania
2022 The German Federal Cultural Foundation Fund
2020 Finalist of Jonathan Harvey Scholarship, Huddersfield University, UK
2019 Full scholarship, International Young Composers Academy, Ticino Musica 2019, Switzerland, Ticino Musica Nova, Lugano, Switzerland
2019 Erasmus Scholarship, University of Arts in Berlin UDK, Germany
2018–2019 Erasmus Scholarship, Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama, Sweden
2018 DoRa+ Scholarship for participation at Mixtur 2018 Music Festival, Barcelona
2017–2018 DoRa+ Scholarship European Regional Investment, Estonian Academy of Music and Theater
2016 Erasmus+ Award and Scholarship, Sibelius Academy of Music, Finland

Commissioned and selected works :

Commissioned composer at Remus Georgescu International Composing Competition 2024, Timisoara, Romania
Commissioned composer at KUMAUS FESTIVAALI 2024, Finland
Commissioned composer by Interstring Project Ensemble 2024
Commissioned composer by DME Ensemble/Project 2024, Lisbon, Portugal
Commissioned composer at Musica Nova Helsinki 2023, Zagros Ensemble 2023
Selected composer at FINMN New Music Festival, Mexico City, Mexico 2023
Selected composer at Muslab Electronic Music Festival 2023, Ecuador
Kulturmesse Trondheim 2023, Norway
Commissioned composer at Eufonija Festival 2023, Novi-Sad, Serbia
Commissioned composer at Access Contemporary Music of Chicago 2022
Commissioned composer by Collegium Novum Zurich Ensemble 2022
Commissioned composer at Eufonija Festival 2022, Accordion Concerto for Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra, Serbia 2022
Commissioned composer by K!ART Ensemble 2021
Selected Composer by Loadbang Ensemble 2021-2022, NYC, USA
Selected Composer at Nordic Percussion Festival 2021, Aarhus, Denmark
Commissioned composer by Ensemble Musikfabrik, Germany 2020-2021
Commissioned composer by Trio Estatico (Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Recherche) 2021, Frankfurt
Commissioned composer by Musica Al Dente Festival 2021, Moscow, Russia
Selected/commissioned composer by Ensemble Collettivo_21, Crossroads 2020, Mozarteum Universurty, Salzburg, Austria 2020
Commissioned composer by Darragh Morgan, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2020, Huddersfield, UK
Selected composer by Klangforum Wien Ensemble at outHear Music Festival, Greece 2019
Commissioned/Selected composer by Ensmeble Modern at Ticino Musica, Switzerland 2019
Commissioned composer by K!ART Ensemble, Denmark 2019
Selected composer by Risuonanze 2019, Udine, Italy
Selected composer by International Festival for modern art in Odessa, Ukraine, ISCM 2019
Selected composer by Gdansk Electro-Acoustic Festival 2019
Commissioned composer by Beethoven Academy in Bonn 2018
Commissioned composer by Domen Koren (Slovenian Saxophone Player) In cooperation with Ljubljana Academy of Music, Ljubljana 2018
Selected composer by Fie Schouten’s Trio Project at Gaudeamus Festival 2018
Commissioned composer by Trio Saeitenwind (Switzerland) for Tehran International Contemporary Music Festival 2018
Selected composer at Estonian Music Days 2018 , Tallinn Contemporary Sinfonietta
Selected/Commissioned composer at MIXTUR 2018 Contemporary Music Festival , Barcelona , Spain
Composer in residence at Eufonija fest 2018 Contemporary Accordeon Festival , Novi sad, Serbia
Selected composer/composer in residence by UNM Nordisk Music Festival , Iceland 2017
Selected composer by MIXTUR 2017 Contemporary Music Festival , Barcelona,Spain
Selected composer by Garage Ensemble’s call for proposal 2017-2018 , Germany/Finland
Selected composer at ART & SCIENCE DAY 2016 , Bourges , France
Selected composer at AEPEX CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE ,Michigan, USA
Selected composer at Garda International Music Masters , Garda, Italy
Selected composer at UMKC Composition workshop final concert, Kansas Missouri Music Conservatory ,USA

Festivals attendance/Performed :

DME Project 2024, Lisbon, Portugal
Kumaus Festival 2024, Finland
Musica Nova 2023 Helsinki, Finland
FINMN Mexico New Music Festival, Mexico City, Mexico
Muslab 2023 Electronic Music Festival, Ecuador 2023
Kulturmesse Trondheim,
Eufonija Festival 2023, Serbia
MUSICA DEL XXI SECOLO 2022
Access Contemporary Music, Chicago, USA 2022
Eufonija Festival 2022
Nordic Percussion Festival 2021, Aarhus, Denmark
Baroque on Beaver 2021, Michigan, USA
Pozanan 5th International Viola Forum, Poznan, Poland
Gioventu Musicale d’italia 2021, Modena, Italy
Unerhörte Musik Festival 2021, Berlin, Germany
Crossroads 2020, Salzburg Austria
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2020
reMusik 2020
Impuls Nue Musik 2019, Germany/Switzerland
OutHear New Music Week 2019, Larissa, Greece
Tempo Reale Festival 2019, Florence, Italy
Ticino Musica International Young Composers Academy 2019
Risuonanze 2019
Odessa Festival of Modern Art 2 Days and 2 Nights of New Music 2019
Ircam Manifeste 2019 (Auditor)
Siren Festival 2019, Gothenburg, Sweden
Gaudeamus 2018, Utrecht, Netherlands
Estonian Music Days 2018, Tallinn, Estonia
Mixtur 2018 Barcelona, Spain
Sound of Stockholm 2017
UNM Nordisk Music Festival 2017, Reykjavik, Iceland
Poznań Contemporary Music Festival 2017
Eufonija Festival 2017 and 2018 Novi Sad, Serbia
Lerici Music Festival “Suoni Dal Golfo” 2017 Italy
MIXTURE 2017 Contemporary Music Festival, Barcelona, Spain
MUTEFEST 2016 Electronic Music Festival , Finland
Tehran International Contemporary Music Festival 2016 and 2017, Iran
Batumi International Contemporary Music Festival 2014, Georgia
Yerevan “Perform me” contemporary Music Festival 2014, Armenia

Workshops and Masterclasses participation :

2021 Zagreb Music Biennale with Alexander Schubert and Raphael Cendo
2020 Composition Masterclasses with Oscar Bianchi, Yuri Kasparov, St.petersburg Russia, reMusik Festival
2019 Composition Masterclasses with Dimitri Kourldianski, Katharina Rosenberger, Lugano
2019 Composition Master Class, Oscar Bianchi, Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin - Ticino Musica Festival Lugano 2019
2019 Composition Seminar held by Beat Furrer, University of Arts in Berlin
2018 Composition Master Class, Tristan Murail , Rebeca Saunders , Alexander Schubert Barcelona , Spain
2017 Composition Master Class , Klaus Lang , Michael Finnissy , Gabriel Prokofiev, Dror Feiler
2017 Composition Master Class , Pierluigi Billone , Fabian Panisello, Barcelona,Spain
2017 Composition Masterclass , Georg Friedrich Haas, Tallinn Estonia
2016 Composition Master Class , Karlheinz Essl , Jose Maria Sanchez Verdu, Daniele Bravi, Sibelius Academy of Music Finland
2016 Timbral and Spectral music composition , Mauro Montalbetti , Italy
2015 Spectral music composition , Manolis Vlitakis from UDK University, Georgia
2014 Avant-Gard and Electronic Composition, Francois Bernard Mache, Georgia
2014 Electronic and Contemporary Music Notation, George Hajdu, Georgia

Concerts and Performed Compositions (Excerpts) :

(Slovenia, Netherlands, UK, Poland, Germany, Sweden, France, Finland, Spain, Iceland, Serbia, Italy, USA, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Iran , Uzbekistan and etc.)

2024 Octahedral Revelation for Digital Accordion and 8 Channels, Montreal University, Canada
2023 Nodes and Arcs for Quarter-tone Accordion and Zagros Ensemble, Musica Nova Festival 2023 Helsinki, Finland
2022 Neutralization operation inside the Piano, Elon University of North Carolina, USA
2022 The Queen Bee, Eufonija Festival, Accordion Concerto for Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra
2022 Shifā, Collegium Novum Zurich Ensemble 2022, Switzerland
2022 Micromoments VI, loadbang ensemble, New York, USA
2021 Micromoments VII, Trio Estatico (Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Recherche), Paris, France
2021 Micromoments V, Collettivo_21 Ensemble, Modena Music Festival, Italy
2021 Micro-Moments IV, Ensemble Musikfabrik, 2020-2021 project, Germany
2020 Micro-Moments III for Collettivo_21 Ensemble, Crossroads 2020, Salzburg
2020 Beyond The ASMR, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2020, UK
2019 “Gavesht II” for Klangfrorum Wien Ensemble, Commissioned by the OutHear Fest 2019, Greece
2019 “Inside The Twisted Mind of The Mr. Sophistication”, Commissioned by K!ART Ensemble, Denmark
2019 “The Mechanism of Growth”, Ensemble Modern, Ticino Musica Festival 2019
2019 “ElectroSonics” Trio Saeitenwind, Basel and Biel, Switzerland, Impuls Nue Musik 2019
2019 “ Mantra” for 5 speakers, Temporeale Festival. Florence, Italy
2019 “In Eternity” Live at Latvian Radio Classic, Riga, Latvia
2019 “ Auschwitz : Block 11” ,Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra commissioned by Młodzi nie.poważni Orchestra, Lodz, Poland
2018 “ Dido and Aeneas Opera Project”, Gothenburg HSM Opera Orchestra, Conducted by Henryk Schaeffer, Sweden
2018 “Human Dignity” for 2 Pianos and Narrator, Performed by Kai Schumacher, Commissioned by Beethoven Academy in Bonn, Germany.
2018 “Old Age, Adolescence, and Infancy” for Gaudeamus 2018 Festival in Netherlands, Utrecht
2018 “A Piece of Monologue”, For Drum-Set Solo, for Ensemble Garage, Eastman School of Music Audio Research Studio NewYork , Köln, and Helsinki.
2018 “Balkaneh” Commissioned by Eufonija Fest 2018, Novi Sad, Serbia
2018 “Rise from the Ashes” Tallinn Sinfonietta , April 2018 , Tallinn Estonia , Estonian Music Days 2018
2018 Gravity for Piano and Electronics ,Mixtur Barcelona Festival 2018 , Ricardo Descalzo , Spain Barcelona
2018 “Sabā The Wind” for Alto Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra , Slovenian Philharmonic Hall , Ljubljana
2017 “4our” for Saxophone Quartet performed by STOCKHOLM SAXOPHONE QUARTET, Norkoping Sweden
2017 “Time , Space and Illusion” for Saxophone and Percussions, Sound of Stockholm
2017 “New Miniature” for Soprano Sax and Marimba , Barcelona Mixtur Festival,Spain
2017 “ Totally Enigmatic” for Chamber Ensemble, Sepia Ensemble Poland , Tehran
2017 “ DreamScapeS” for Baritone Saxophone and Piano , Performed by Linn Persson and Christopher Hatchbacka, Sweden
2017 “ SoundScapeS for Solo Accordion , Novi Sad Eufonija Festival 2017 , Serbia
2016 “Constructive Imaginary#1” KORVAT AUKI concert series #2 , Helsinki Finland, Lòdź Poland
2016 “4our” for Saxophone Quartet performed by STOCKHOLM SAXOPHONE QUARTET , Iran , Tehran
2016 “In a trice” performed by Andrea Dinda , Garda International Master Festival , Italy
2016 “In Memoriam” for solo Viola , Kansas Missouri conservatory , USA
2016 First Premiere of “Metro Project” work in ART & SCIENCE DAYS 2016 Bourges France and Second premiere by AEPEX CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE in Michigan USA
2015 “ Disabling a bomb inside the Piano” for Piano Solo and 4 performers , Tbilisi Contemporary Ensemble
2015 “From east to the west” for String Quartet , Performed by Omnibus Ensemble , Uzbekistan
2015 “Samā” for Persian folk instrument and Laptop Electronics , Performed by Arshia Samsaminia(Setar) Nikoloz Davitashvili (Laptop) , Tbilisi International Musicologists Festival
2015 “Parce Domine” for Septet Ensemble , Performed by Tbilisi Contemporary Music Ensemble
2014 “Gravity” for Electric Guitar and Laptop Electronics , Batumi Contemporary Music Festival , Georgia
2013 “In outside” for solo Piano , Performed by Anahit Hakopian, Perform Me Festival , Khachaturian Museum Recital Hall , Yerevan, Armenia

CD Releases :

Composer Alive: Access Contemporary Music Chicago, 2022
Four Decades of Accordion in Łódź, Concerto for accordion and orchestra 2019, ARS-SONORA RECORDS 2020
New Music in Iran #3, Mahoor Records, 2019 Tehran
Dialogues (Anthology of Iranian Contemporary Composers, Mahoor Records, 2019 Tehran
Tehran Contemporary Music Festival VOL.II, 2016 Tehran

Final Research Papers

Using Persian Ancient/Medieval Microtonal Music as Material for Composing New Music (Ongoing PhD Thesis), The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece 2020—present
Composing Music Based on Materials from Ethnic Therapeutic Healing Music. University of Gothenburg/Estonian Academy of Music 2019

Youtube/Soundcloud/Website:

www.arshia-samsaminia.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@arshiasamsaminia8772
Sound Cloud: https://soundcloud.com/arshia-samsaminia