Artist Profile
Sanam Tahmasebi is a vocalist, composer, and interdisciplinary artist from Tehran, based in Amsterdam. Her practice centers the voice as both a sonic and structural force, bridging Persian vocal traditions with contemporary composition, improvisation, and electroacoustic exploration.
Trained in classical guitar, jazz vocals, and composition, Sanam has studied and worked across Iran, Italy, the United States, and the Netherlands. She treats the voice not only as a medium for expression but also as an instrument in its own right—shaping rhythm, space, and texture through sound. Her vocal work draws from Persian modal systems, extended techniques, and poetic forms, often layered through live looping and electronic processing to create rich soundscapes that shift between the grounded and the abstract.
Improvisation plays a central role in her creative language, allowing her to move fluidly between structured and open forms. Her performances often unfold as a process of discovery, where voice, technology, and traditional elements meet in evolving dialogue.
Sanam regularly collaborates with artists across cultures and disciplines, including musicians, dancers, theater-makers, poets and visual artists. Her work has been presented at festivals and venues such as Uitmarkt, Oerol, Into the Great Wide Open, International Theater Amsterdam, and Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam and Groningen.
Through voice, sound, and presence, she creates spaces that hold complexity and invite connection, guided by curiosity, resonance, and the desire to reimagine tradition in conversation with the present.
