About Me

Amir Eslami is a composer, Ney (Persian flute) player, educator, and cultural leader based in Vancouver, Canada. Born in Esfahan, Iran in 1971, he began playing the Ney in 1987 and has since built a prolific career in Persian and contemporary music.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music in 1997 and Master of Arts in Music Composition in 2003. From 2005 to 2018, he served as a faculty member at the Music Faculty of the Art University of Tehran, where he received awards for both Best Lecturer (2008) and Best Researcher (2009).

Amir has composed award-winning works and performed internationally. His music has received three national and three international composition awards, including recognitions from Italy, Australia, and the Netherlands. His discography includes six albums as a composer and eighteen albums as a Ney performer.

His album All of You (2011) received a 4-star review from Songlines Magazine (UK) and was the basis for his lecture-recitals, A New Approach to Improvisation in Persian Music, presented at the University of London (2010) and Cambridge University (2011).

Amir served as a jury member for the “2 Agosto International Composition Competition” in Bologna (2012), and his compositions have been performed in Iran, Italy, Australia, the USA, the Netherlands, and Canada.

After immigrating to Vancouver in 2015, Amir expanded his influence in the Canadian music scene. He produced and hosted the “Aram-e Jan” radio program on Co-Op Radio for one year, showcasing Persian music and poetry.

In 2016, he co-founded the Vancouver Iranian Choir, which now includes over 40 singers. The same year, he established Rumi Records, his independent music label. His orchestral piece Azeri Dances was performed by the Ambleside Symphony Orchestra, and Ghalandar was performed by the Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra (VICO) in 2018.

Amir also founded the Iranian Music Society of BC (IMSBC) in 2018, now with over 100 members, and the Hazar Ava Ensemble, a trio of female vocalists whose debut album The Secret of Nightingale’s Song was released by Rumi Records in 2019.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Amir transitioned the Vancouver Iranian Choir to online classes and produced eight virtual choir music videos. In 2021, he joined the Naadaleela Ensemble, a group led by Curtis Andrews dedicated to intercultural musical collaborations.

Since 2021, he has served as a juror for the Canadian Folk Music Awards. He released The Memory of a Sweetheart in 2022, based on the poetry of Dr. Mehdi Meshkini. That same year, his orchestral composition Ney & Orchestra in Three Movements was performed by the Lionsgate Sinfonia Orchestra for the Nowruz Celebration in Vancouver.

Amir has been a composition instructor at Capilano University since September 2022, teaching jazz students. He also founded the Multicultural Wind Ensemble in Vancouver the same year.

In April 2025, his recent compositions were performed by the Vancouver Iranian Choir and the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, conducted by Leslie Dala.

Awards, Honors, and Memberships

  1. First Prize, World Music Festival – Ney Performer, Foozhan Ensemble, Tehran (1998)

  2. First Prize, Iranian Ensemble – 4th Nationwide Student Music Festival, Tehran (2003)

  3. Commendation, 5th Nationwide Students’ Festival, Tehran (2004)

  4. Best Lecturer, Music Faculty, Art University of Tehran (2008)

  5. 3rd Prize, Olympic Song Composition Competition, Iran Olympic Academy (2008)

  6. 1st Prize, 2 Agosto International Composition Competition, Bologna, Italy (2009)

  7. Best Researcher, Music Faculty, Art University of Tehran (2009)

  8. 3rd Prize, Shakuhachi Chamber Music Competition, Melbourne, Australia (2010)

  9. 4-Star Review for All of You, Songlines Magazine, UK (2011)

  10. Jury Member, 2 Agosto International Composition Competition, Bologna, Italy (2012)

  11. Faculty Member & Composition Teacher, Ameropa Music Festival, Prague, Czech Republic (2013)

  12. Honorable Mention, Atlas Academy Composition Competition, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2014)

  13. Member, Book Council, Art University of Tehran (2014)

  14. Jury Member, Ahmad Pejman Biennial Composition Contest, Tehran (2015)

  15. Music Producer, “Aram-e Jan” Radio Program, Vancouver Co-Op Radio (2015)

  16. Board Member, Vancouver Iranian Choir (2016)

  17. Founder, Hazar Ava Ensemble, Vancouver (2016)

  18. Founder, Rumi Records, Vancouver (2016)

  19. Board Member, Iranian Music Society of BC (2018)

  20. Board Member, Mohseni Foundation, Vancouver (2019)

  21. Juror, Canadian Folk Music Awards (2021)

  22. Member, Naadaleela Ensemble, Vancouver (2021)

  23. Instructor, Capilano University, Vancouver (2022)

  24. Founder, Multicultural Wind Ensemble, Vancouver (2022)