Composer and pianist Sahba Aminikia is foremost an artist, whose view of the arts as one inseparable entity informs his broad body of work.
Born in 1981 in Tehran, Iran Aminikia studied music composition in Russia at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory under Boris Ivanovich Tishchenko, a post-graduate student of Dimitry Shostakovich. In his homeland, Aminikia studied under renowned Iranian pianists Nikan Milani, Safa Shahidi and Gagik Babayan. He was perhaps most influenced by work with his first teacher and renown composer , Dr. Mehran Rouhani, a post-graduate of Royal Academy of Music and former student of Sir Michael Tippett. Aminikia currently lives and studies in the United States, forging a unique creative path through cultural boundaries and continuing to learn from other's musical concepts.
He is a student of Dan Becker and David Garner at San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he is the recipient of Phyllis Wattis Foundation scholarship. He has also received lessons from David Conte, Conrad Susa, Richard Danielpour, John Corigliano and has been in a recent master class with John Adams.
In his work, Aminikia draws influence from jazz, Russian contemporary composition and, most importantly to him, the traditional melodies of Iran. These he increasingly incorporates into his original musical language, relying on them to establish a grounded voice in the vast world of contemporary music.
He is the recipient of many various commissions from theatre troops to concert music ensembles, Persian traditional music groups to jazz bands including Kronos Quartet, Parnassus Symphony, San Francisco Conservatory of Music New Music Ensemble, Mobius Trio and Delphi Trio and has collaborated with artists such as Rashin Fahandej, Taraneh Hemami and Samira Eskandarfar and sees these as opportunities to further establish a unique communication between himself and international audiences.
His third string quartet ,"A Threnody for Those Who Remain", commissioned by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Kronos Performing Arts Association was described by Financial Times as “An experience not to be easily forgotten”.