YALDA ZAMANI
©Neda Navaee
Yalda Zamani is a conductor, researcher, and performer based in Germany, interested in transdisciplinary approaches in contemporary music performance, computational creativity, live coding and the application of machine learning models in combination with motion-sensing technologies.
As a passionate advocate for contemporary music and conductor, she collaborates regularly with composers around the world, and has worked directly with several conductors and composers such as Salvatore Sciarrino, Helmut Lachenmann, Susanna Mälkki, Peter Eötvös, Bas Wiegers, Beat Furrer, Enno Poppe, Stefano Gervasoni, Gary Carpenter, Bernhard Gander, Stefan Keller and HK Gruber among others, and conducted successful performances with various ensembles and orchestras 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, Ultraschall Festival and Klangwerkstatt Festival in Berlin, 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 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, and was selected as Artist-in-Residence at the European network of opera academies and the Academy of Festival d’Aix-en Provence in France. In 2020 she served as assistant conductor for Salvatore Sciarrino’s new opera production “Il canto s'attrista, perché?” at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt in Austria, and performed with the Klangforum Wien and the PPCM students at Mumuth in Graz, Austria. She was recently involved in the CD production of a portrait concert by Stefan Keller with Ensemble Ascolta at Funkstudio of SWR in Germany. In May 2021 she had her debut concert with the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra at the 31st Music Biennale Zagreb.
Yalda’s fascination for both science and music has been an inseparable part of her development since childhood, and she has always seen these two fields as looking at our complex world from different perspectives. She started her music education in Iran by taking private lessons in piano, composition, and music theory with composers, pianists, and pedagogues such as Hamid Vafaei, Mehran Rouhani, Houshang Ostovar, and Farideh Behboud, where she gained her first experiences in conducting by serving as assistant conductor with the Iran-Austria Symphony Orchestra and Choir of Austrian Cultural Forum in Tehran, and simultaneously earned her bachelor’s degree in computer science. Later she joined Georg Mark and Andreas Stoehr conducting classes in Vienna and earned her second bachelor’s degree in music and graduated with distinction from the Music and Arts University in Vienna (MUK), where her curiosity led her to also take introductory courses in cognitive science, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence as a master student at the department of philosophy / The Middle European interdisciplinary master program in cognitive science at the Vienna University. After her debut with the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra at the ORF RadioKulturhaus in Vienna, she was selected as a scholarship holder by the Ensemble Modern in Germany to work closely with this ensemble and within the International Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt am Main, and earned her Master’s degree in conducting with specialization in contemporary music performance at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK). She has recently joined the multimedia composition department at the music university in Hamburg (HfMT) as a researcher and doctoral student, where she conducts research on the application of machine learning, motion-sensing technologies, and VR/AR environments in presenting contemporary classical music, under the supervision of Georg Hajdu, Jacob Sello, and Alexander Schubert.
©Neda Navaee
©Deutschlandfunk / Simon Detel
She is a recipient of the “Start-Stipendium”, awarded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture to young successful artists in Austria in 2015, was identified as a promising young conductor by the Ulysses Network - IRCAM artistic committee in France from 2017-2019, and was selected as semi-finalist and orchestra prize-winner at the Jeunesse Musicales International Conducting Competition in Bucharest in 2018 and as winner/finalist of the “Das Kritische Orchestra” by the Dirigentenforum and Deutsche Musikrat in 2019. She recently received a two-year doctoral research fellowship Pro-Exzellenzia from the city of Hamburg and the European Social Fond, which is aimed at effectively and sustainably increasing the proportion of women in leadership positions.
©Vedran Metelko
©Vedran Metelko
With Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra at the Music Biennale Zagreb
On May 29th I had the great pleasure to conduct the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra (Simfonijski orkestar Hrvatske radiotelevizije) at the 60th anniversary of Music Biennale Zagreb.
The concert was broadcasted on national TV (HRT3), and a recording of the performance including some conversations with the composers and the conductor will be accessible on the national radio (radio.hrt.hr).
At the Ultraschall Berlin_Festival für Neue Musik, with Ensemble Ascolta and Daniel Eichholz
As part of Ultraschall Berlin - Festival für Neue Musik , Ensemble Ascolta , with the wonderful Daniel Eichholz as soloist of hybrid gaits, Ruth Velten, Felix Nagl and myself, we performed a portrait concert of Stefan Keller with some fantastic music.
Ultraschall Festival. Radialsystem Berlin. Ensemble ascolta. 23. Januar 2021
Photos (c) Deutschlandfunk / Simon Detel
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.
'GREYLANDS': Ensemble Reconsil @ Reaktor Vienna
The talented musicians of Ensemble Reconsil are up on the stage of Reaktor tonight, and as their principal 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!
