The music of Iranian-American composer Sahba Aminikia is analogous to water. Variably complex or simple, it flows in gentle, naturally syncopated rhythms and structures reminiscent of light rain falling amid sunshine on a rooftop in one work, while another piece’s metronomic regularity is like a steadily dripping faucet. A third piece arrives fully orchestrated with the torrential swoosh of a downpour.

Bearing the imprint of his classical music training and vastly diverse source material — Persian poetry and traditional music, European and Western classical music, jazz, the music of Pink Floyd, Beatles, Queen, and many other contemporary and world music ensembles — overall the San Francisco-based musician’s work serves up a baseline elixir infused with multiple flavors. Lately, his compositional output includes works featuring crowd-sourced human voices obtained through social media. These works transform the sound of young voices reproducing bird calls or the (forbidden) singing of Iranian women or the chanting of the name of a political prisoner into nearly overwhelming tsunamis of pain and wave-like declarations of liberation and beauty.

Aminikia’s music has been widely performed and he has had a long and productive relationship with the Kronos Quartet. During a conversation about composing, the talk turns to the Flying Carpet Children Music Festival of which he is founder/director. In a comment that might surprise his followers, he says, “I can see myself giving up music one day, but I can’t see myself giving up the children I work with. My life energy is inspired by the energy of those children. It keeps me going. It’s such powerful emotion and force that children carry.”

Sahba Aminikia is an Iranian-American composer, pianist, and educator born in post-revolutionary wartime in Iran. Aminikia first explored immersive, visceral music in a successful performance career before pivoting to artistic direction of Flying Carpet Festival, an international music festival serving refugee children in Turkey. At time of writing, Aminikia’s birth country Iran is experiencing significant and violent upheaval. ICIYL offers particular thanks to Sahba for his generous work and shares hope for peace and restoration in Iran, Turkey, and its neighboring region.

Two years ago, 38-year old Iranian-born composer Sahba Aminikia ’13 decided to leave a secure teaching job in San Francisco and, by kismet or intention, join the circus. He has not looked back on his decision to become artistic director of the Flying Carpet Children Festival in war-torn Mardin, Turkey, an ancient city in southeastern Turkey that is currently home to some 5,000 child refugees.

The festival brings together distinguished international performers and composers, including several of Aminikia’s teachers and fellow students from SFCM, circus artists, multi-media producers, trance dancers, as well as traditional Kurdish musicians as part of an effort started by Sirkhane (Circus House), a Turkish non-profit offering free music classes and social circus workshops to children in schools and refugee camps. Founded in 2012 by visual artist and social worker Pinar Demiral, Sirkhane’s mission is “to serve as a catalyst for positive change in the lives of vulnerable children.”

Sahba Aminikia hadn’t planned on dancing when he stopped by Club Deluxe in the Haight to unwind and hear a little jazz three years ago. But the band was swinging, and before long, he found himself boogieing with a young Italian woman. The Iranian-born composer was in a very good place in his career, teaching at the Academy of Art University while writing music performed by top-flight ensembles around the world, including Kronos Quartet.

Contemporary classical composer Sahba Aminikia came to San Francisco as a refugee. Born and raised in Iran in the '80s, he left as a young man to study music in Russia, and was a graduate student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

The music he composes is deeply tied to his Iranian roots — he’s written pieces inspired by traditional work songs of Persian carpet weavers, or incorporating the voices of Iranian women whose singing has been stifled by religious restrictions. 

Aminikia came into KALW’s studio to talk about his music and where it comes from, in this edition of Bay Area Beats.