About Me
My musical journey began in Tehran when I was eleven, learning the Santoor under traditional Iranian training. Those early years shaped my connection to music and led me to study Santoor performance at the Art University of Tehran, where I completed my bachelor’s degree. I then pursued a master’s in composition, which opened a completely new world for me.
For the first time, I encountered Western classical composition techniques, so different from the traditions I had grown up with. This contrast made me think deeply about how Iranian musical elements could live within new compositions. Later, during my second master’s degree at the University of Manchester, my focus shifted again as I explored how Iranian music could be expressed through Western notation rules for composition, with all its possibilities and limitations.
A key moment in my PhD came in June 2022, when I joined residencies as a Santoor player with the Olympias Music Foundation. Playing alongside musicians from different cultural backgrounds showed me the power of dialogue and collaboration. Since then, I’ve been less focused on blending Iranian materials into my work, and more interested in creating spaces where diverse voices can meet. Along the way, I’ve drawn inspiration from composers like Ahmad Pejman, Mehdi Hosseini, Bushra El-Turk, Meredith Monk, Chou Wen-Chung, and Lou Harrison.
Latest Updates
Atefeh is one of eight composers selected for a place on the 2026 RPS Composers programme.
1 September 2026
She is working on her new piece, commissioned by the RPS, for Music@Malling.
Atefeh performed at Huddersfield contemporary music festival (hcmf)
18 November 2024
Indefinite Dreams: I am alive! (2022) 24’ World Premiere
Co-devised by composer/improviser Atefeh Einali (Iran, 1990) and visual artist Nikta Mohammadi (Britain/Iran, 1992)
Santoor player, improviser and composer Atefeh Einali and visual artist Nikta Mohammadi co-devised Indefinite Dreams: I am alive! as an audiovisual performance responding to the theme of the bed as a site of journey and a migrant’s only home. It incorporates Mohammadi’s moving image work and Einali’s live compositions on santoor to form a reconstructed dream state with ethereal imagery and diverse musical language.
Atefeh is working on her "Collaborative Opera lab"
31 December 2025
"Collaborative Opera lab" is the research project has been funded by Art council England. It has been focus on research and development time for Atefeh's first Opera writing. More news coming soon.
Atefeh went to Hong Kong
9 June 2025
One of Atefeh's pieces "Fear" has been chosen for Intimacy of creativity festival and she will be working as a composer fellow with them at the Hong Kong University of sience and technology.
Intimacy of Creativity – The Bright Sheng Partnership: Composers Meet Performers in Hong Kong (IC) returns for another innovative season from 2 June to 9 June 2025, presented in partnership with the Momenta Quartet and the Momenta Festival! (The Momenta Festival will present the work of the audience-vote winner among the Composer Fellows in October 2025 in New York.)
