Sanam Tahmasebi is a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and interdisciplinary artist born and raised in Tehran. Her work moves through voice, sound, movement, and text, exploring themes of memory, transformation, nature, and resistance. Drawing from classical and jazz traditions, Persian music, and contemporary practices, she creates performances that are emotionally layered and structurally focused.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Classical Guitar from Tehran, a second Bachelor in Jazz Voice from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, and a Master’s in Jazz and Composition from the Prince Claus Conservatoire in Groningen. Her education across Iran, Italy, the U.S and the Netherlands reflects a practice shaped by both technical depth and cultural range. These experiences continue to inform an artistic voice that remains open to new forms and evolving methods.

Improvisation plays a central role in Sanam’s creative process. Whether working with spontaneous vocal gestures, live composition, or collaborative structures, she treats improvisation as a way to engage with space, sound, and presence. This process invites openness, allowing each performance to emerge as a responsive and evolving experience.

She uses the voice not just as an expressive medium but as a compositional tool. Persian modal systems, extended vocal techniques, and electroacoustic textures often meet in her work, creating soundscapes that resist easy categorization and invite deep, embodied listening.

Collaboration is essential to her approach. She works with dancers, theater-makers, visual artists, and musicians, treating each project as a shared investigation shaped by trust and attention. Whether performing live, creating installations, or working collectively, she approaches each piece as a living process shaped by the dynamics of exchange.

Her work has been presented at Oerol, Into the Great Wide Open, Uitmarkt, Oosterpoort, International Theater Amsterdam, and Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam and Groningen. She has collaborated with institutions and companies including Het Houten Huis, Club Guy & Roni, Hi-Lo, and Spinbarg.

Now based in Amsterdam, Sanam continues to develop projects at the intersection of composition, improvisation, and interdisciplinary performance. Her work remains grounded in curiosity, voice, and the practice of careful listening.