In support of DEBUT ALBUM Dawn of a Cold Season, Rooted in Iranian feminist poetry and created at the intersection of Persian vocal traditions and contemporary electroacoustic composition, the album explores mortality, resilience, and transformation.
Opera Grants for Women Composers: Commissioning Grants support Professional Company Members in commissioning new operatic works by women composers.
Commissioning Grants are intended to help offset the composer’s contract fee relating to the commission of a fully produced new work.
OPERA America believes that different perspectives, cultural histories, life experiences, and personal stories enrich the operatic repertoire. OPERA America is dedicated to supporting creators who reflect the diversity of the nation.
Opera Grants for Women Composers are supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. READ MORE HERE
The Silver Cypress is the creation of Iranian-American composer Niloufar Nourbakhsh, who won the commission from the prestigious Beth Morrison Projects that is being workshopped by opera artists at the Banff Centre. With previous commissions from ensembles like the Kronos Quartet and L’Orchestre de Paris among others, Nourbakhsh has typically relied on her lived experience to create a musical language all her own. In The Silver Cypress, this language creates a dystopian world where water (and the nourishment of life) is scarce and a community resembling climate refugees is suffering.
“We wanted to explore a world where people have lost water, but also have lost the water within, which is their tears,” Nourbakhsh explains, “and connecting tears with the magic of empathy and also storytelling as a way to understand each other better and to be able to live with each other.”
Read More HERE
The most engrossing work was Threshold of Brightness, by composer Niloufar Nourbakhsh and librettist Lisa Flanagan
Michael Zwiebach – San Francisco Classical Voice
The San Francisco Classical Voice review of West Edge Opera’s Snapshot program highlights Niloufar Nourbakhsh’s Threshold of Brightness as one of the most compelling works in an evening devoted to bold new operatic voices. Created with librettist Lisa Flanagan and inspired by the life of Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad, the opera is praised for its nuanced vocal writing and layered emotional complexity, demonstrating a strong command of musical storytelling within a compact form. Presented as part of a workshop setting designed to develop new operas, the piece stands out for its depth, theatrical sensitivity, and ability to translate personal and historical themes into a vivid operatic language.
Read the article HERE
The Cello Museum’s NYWC spotlight highlights Iranian-American composer Niloufar Nourbakhsh, emphasizing her internationally recognized work and her contribution to contemporary cello repertoire through Cyclical Rabbits (2021). Inspired by Charline von Heyl’s reinterpretation of Primavera, the work explores themes of life and continuity through cyclical musical structures and evolving arpeggiations, combining extended cello techniques with a concept-driven, visually rooted artistic approach.
Read and Listen to the work HERE
On May 3rd, Kronos Quartet reunited with Jeffrey Zeigler for a one-night only performance at National Sawdust, dedicated to compositions that “Awaken the Future” including the world premiere of “For Love Seemed East at First” composed by Niloufar Nourbakhsh.
For Love Seemed Easy at First, commissioned in celebration of National Sawdust’s 10th season for the remarkable Kronos Quartet and Jeffrey Zeigler, began as a tribute to the community that National Sawdust has cultivated—a creative home that has embraced not only my work but the voices of many musicians and artists who, like me, have found a kind of family within its walls.
As I began composing, the piece organically shifted into a more intimate exploration of family itself—of the bonds that hold, fray, and stretch across distance and time. Since the passing of my mother in 2019, the relationships within my family have undergone profound changes. Now dispersed across three continents, we continue to navigate how to remain connected and whole despite our separation.
In the final movement, I collaborated closely with Roxanne Nesbitt in building a motorized wheel bow as a metaphor for the fragile and deliberate effort to gather what remains.
The title, For Love Seemed Easy at First, is a literal translation of the opening line of a ghazal by the 14th-century Persian mystic poet Hafez. It is also the name of our family’s WhatsApp group chat—a humble but enduring thread that ties us together.
Segment is now available from WISN 12 feature on ‘Concert for Peace’. Niloufar joined conductor and artistic director David Bloom in discussing her large ensemble work ‘C Ce See’, performed by Present Music in Wisconsin.
More Information can be found HERE.
Nilou Nour | Composer Pianist 
You must be logged in to post a comment.