Yalda Zamani was born in Algiers and grew up in Tehran and is among the foremost interpreters of modern and contemporary music of her generation in Europe. As a passionate advocate for contemporary music, she collaborates regularly with composers around the world, and has worked directly with many of the leading conductors and composers of the day such as Helmut Lachenmann, Susanna Mälkki, Peter Eötvös, Beat Furrer, Enno Poppe, Stefano Gervasoni, Bernhard Gander and HK Gruber among others, and conducted successful performances with various ensembles in venues and festivals such as the Darmstadt New Music Festival, Klangspuren Schwaz, Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik, Time of Music Festival in Finland, Wien Modern Festival, Gaudeamus Muziekweek in Utrecht, IMPULS Graz Festival, ZKM | Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Royaumont Abbey in France, The Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music in Krakow and Vienna Musikverein in Austria, etc. In March 2019 she conducted the world premiere of 'Mondrian' for Harpsichord and six players by Gary Carpenter, Commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society for Ensemble 10/10. Yalda's debut with the Klangforum Wien at the Konzerthaus Wien and at the Onassis Cultural Center in Athens, residency as Artist-in-Residence at the European network of opera academies, Conductor Residence 2019 and participation at the Atelier des Créatrices d’Opéra of the Académie du Festival d’Aix-en Provence, participation at the Wien Modern Festival in Vienna with the ensemble Ascolta, engagements with the Viennese ensemble Reconsil as its principal guest conductor, and engagements with The Youth Symphony Orchestra of Lower Austria are among her future activities.
As recipient of the “Start-Stipendium”, awarded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture in 2015, identified as a promising young conductor by the Ulysses Network - IRCAM artistic committee in France from 2017, semi-finalist and Orchestra Prize-winner at the Jeunesse Musicales International Conducting Competition in Bucharest in 2018 and finalist of the Workshop with Critical Orchestra in Berlin, Yalda Zamani started off her musical training in piano, composition and singing, and received a scholarship to study composition in the USA in 2009, but her growing passion for conducting after assisting with the Iran-Austria Symphony Orchestra in Tehran led Yalda to her studies in orchestral conducting and harpsichord performance in Vienna, where she graduated with distinction. After her debut with the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra at the ORF RadioKulturhaus in Vienna, she was selected by the Ensemble Modern in Germany to work closely with this ensemble, and received a scholarship from the German Government to work within the International Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt am Main.
Yalda Zamani holds degrees from the Music and Arts University of the city of Vienna in Austria, and the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK) in Germany. In addition, her fascination for science and technology, and her never-ending curiosity lead her into an extraordinary path of studying software engineering and cognitive science in the past.
She is currently living and working in Berlin.
Finalist at 'Das Kritische Orchester' 2019
l am grateful for being selected as one of the finalists of 'Das Kritische Orchester' 2019, a project of Dirigentenforum and Deutscher Musikrat under the direction of Prof. Lothar Strauss, 1st. concertmaster of the Staatskapelle Berlin, which gives young conductors at the beginning of their career to opportunity to work with and receive feedback from members of orchestras such as the Staatskapelle Berlin, Staatskapelle Dresden, Deutsche Oper, Komische Oper, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, NDR-Elbphilharmonie-Orchester, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Niedersächsisches Staatsopernorchester, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn and others.
World Premiere of Gary Carpenter’s ‘Mondrian’ for harpsichord and six players
In March 27th, I had the opportunity to share the stage of the St George's Hall concert room in Liverpool with the wonderful harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, Jonathan Small and the musicians of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble 10/10, to present a program of the 20th century classics by Dutilleux, Hindemith, Falla, and the world premiere of 'Mondrian', for Harpsichord and six players by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Composer in association Gary Carpenter.
March 27, 2019 at 7:30 PM
St George Hall's Concert Room
Liverpool, UK
Klangwerkstatt Berlin Festival für Neue Musik: Swinger's Club with Zafraan Ensemble
On October 3rd. Zafraan Ensemble in Berlin exchanged its repertoire with Ensemble Lemniscate from Basel, both presenting works by Samir Odeh-Tamimi, Hèctor Parra, Andreas Eduardo Frank, Francesco Filidei, Carola Bauckholt, Hendrik Rungelrath, Sarah Nemtsov and Matthew Shlomowitz, and I had the opportunity to share the stage of the Klangwerkstatt Berlin - Festival für Neue Musik with these wonderful musicians.
Saturday, November 3, 2018 at 9 PM
Kunstquartier Bethanien, Studio 1
Mariannenplatz 2, 10997 Berlin, Germany
Stefano Gervasoni's "Nube Obbediente" with Divertimento Ensemble @ Rondo 2018 Festival
'Nube Obbediente' (2011), versione concertante for trombone, percussion and ensemble, Stefano Gervasoni's wonderful piece for Trombone, Percussion and Ensemble, with Divertimento Ensemble, Adrian Albaladejo (trombone) and Elio Marchesini (percussion) at the Teatro Litta in Milan, Italy.
12. September 2018
Teatro Litta
Corso Magenta, 24, 20123 Milano MI, Italy
Orchestra Prize at the Jeunesses Musicales Conducting Competition in Bucharest
I'm thrilled to announce that I won the Orchestra Prize at the 9th edition of the Jeunesses Musicales conducting competition in Bucharest! I would like to thank the Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra, Sigmund Thorp, the president of the jury, the jury members and the organization team of the competition and the Elite Club UNESCO to make this journey possible for me.
Nikos Skalkottas's Octet with Boulez Ensemble
"To create an ensemble that would present chamber music at the highest level, without a permanent lineup of musicians, across genres and epochs, and driven by artistic curiosity—that was the aim when Daniel Barenboim founded the Boulez Ensemble for the opening of the Pierre Boulez Saal in March 2017. Since then, the performances of the ensemble—which consists of musicians from the Staatskapelle Berlin and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, faculty and students of the Barenboim-Said Akademie, and international guest artists—have taken their place not only in the program of the Pierre Boulez Saal, but in the musical life of Berlin." (from Boulez Saal Website)
Today I had the opportunity to rehearse Skalkottas's Octet with Boulez Ensemble with musicians of the Staatskapelle Berlin to help with the preparation for the concert on October 10th.
'GREYLANDS': Ensemble Reconsil @ Reaktor Vienna
The talented musicians of Ensemble Reconsil are up on the stage of Reaktor tonight, and as their prinsicipal guest conductor, I had the privilege to collaborate with them once again to present this program:
GREYLANDS
Francesco CIURLO (IT/GER): Greylands (austrian premiere)
Peter Jacober (AT): Vom Kreis brechen
Alireza FARHANG (IR/FR): Eiwān (austrian premiere)
Valentín PELISCH (ARG): Tris (austrian premiere)
Jannis MALLOUCHOS (GR/AT): Piano Trio
Klaus LANG (AT): Drei goldene Gesichter
ensemble reconsil vienna / Yalda Zamani
Reaktor
Wien 17, Geblergasse 40
Wednesday, June 6th, 19:30
Platypus Ensemble: Mauro Hertig Portrait Concert+ Austrian Broadcast @ ORF Radiokulturhaus
In a collaboration between ORF Radiokulturhaus (Austrian national broadcast) and Jeunesse Vienna, I had the privilege to conduct a portrait concert, which has been broadcast on Ö1 radio May 14, 2018.
The program consisted of a range of Mauro Hertig"s pieces from 2011 to today, including the premiere of new ensemble piece Triad Hihat. Other pieces performed were Stift & Papier I, Stift & Papier II, Vektorium, Tandem Trapez, Ping Pol, Flugmagnet, Slope Motion, Triad Hihat.
Mi 02.05.2018 | 20.00 | Großer Sendesaal
ORF Radiokulturhaus, Argentinierstraße 30a, 1040 Wien
Jeunesse in Zusammenarbeit mit dem ORF RadioKulturhaus / Ö1
Selected as Promising Young Conductor by the Ulysses Network/IRCAM
I am very happy to announce that the European-wide Ulysses Network / IRCAM artistic committee has selected me as Promising Young Conductor. This will enable me to take a journey of residencies all over Europe throughout the years 2017-2020.
Needless to say I am very excited for about this and am looking forward to travelling a lot in the upcoming years!
