Farnaz Modarresifar, a Franco-Iranian composer, santour player, and poet, was born in 1989 in Tehran.
She studied at the National Conservatory and the University of Tehran, she specialized in traditional repertoire and santur improvisation, receiving a first prize in performance. After settling in Paris, she continued her studies, earning several diplomas and master’s degrees in composition, improvisation, and musicology.

Selected as a music composition fellow [pensionnaire] at the Villa Medici – French Academy in Rome – for the year 2025–2026, she is also a laureate of Georges Aperghis’s Composition Workshop, as well as of several national and international awards, including the Alain Louvier Prize, the 24th Grand Prix Lycéen des Compositeurs (2023), and the Claude Arrieu Composition Prize from SACEM (2024).
She has been in residence with numerous ensembles and festivals, such as Ars Nova, Recherche, Sillage, the Maison de la Musique Contemporaine, and the Festival des Arcs.
Invited by the Royaumont Foundation for Voix Nouvelles, Farnaz has collaborated with renowned artists such as Bartabas and Homayoun Shajarian, and has performed several times on Radio France Musique, at the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris, as well as in many prestigious festivals.
A laureate of the Young Women Composers Academy of the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, her works have been premiered at the Philharmonie de Paris, the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Opéra de Reims, Bozar in Brussels, the Opéra de Rennes, the TAP in Poitiers, and the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.

Education

Perfectionnement de Composition
Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris-Alfred Cortot | class of Mr Eric Tanguy | France

2015
Diplôme Supérieur de Composition
Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris-Alfred Cortot | class of Mme Edith LEJET | France

2014
Diplôme de Composition
[ first prize ] Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris-Alfred Cortot | class of Mme Edith LEJET | France

2012
Bachelor of Arts in Santour performance
[ first prize ] Tehran University - Fine arts faculty of Music and Drama | IRAN

2006
Diploma of Santour performance
The Tehran Conservatory of Music | class of Mme Mina Oftadeh | IRAN

Publications

2024
Scores | Éditions Musicales Artchipel - FRANCE :
- L’odeur de ma couronne de papier
- Howl
- Il neige, des cendres
- Dis
- À l’orée
- Élégie

2022
- Silences inouïs [score] | Note en Bulle Éditions - FRANCE [Link]

2021
- [Album] Iranian New Waves [Link]
“En crépuscule” for Bass-flute solo | Petricor Records - US

- Lout [score] | Note en Bulle Éditions [Link]

- Gabbéh [score] | Note en Bulle Éditions [Link]

2019
- [Album] “Addressing Butterflies” [Link]
Poem and voice of Reza Baraheni | Petrichor Records - US

2012
- [Album] “20 pieces for Santour” [Link]
Selected works of Hossein Alizadeh | Mahoor Institute of Culture and Arts | Tehran - IRAN

Awards and Qualifications

2025

- Pensionnaire | Académie de France à Rome Villa Médicis [2025-2026]
- Compositrice en résidence | Festival des Arcs (July 2025)

2024

- “Les Prix Pulsations Contemporaines” (ex Prix symphonique) : Claude Arrieu composition prix - Comité du cœur de la SACEM

- Compositrice en résidence | Ensemble Ars Nova | 2024-2027

- Compositrice en résidence | Maison de la Musique Contemporaine | Avril-juin 2024

2023

- Selected composer of 24th édition of « Le Grand Prix Lycéen des Compositeurs » | « Le Prix des professeurs de collège » for the piece Balades oniriques - FRANCE

2022
- Selected composer for «Atelier de composition with Georges Aperghis» | L’Instant Donné Ensemble - Paris

2021
Selected composer for « Académie des jeunes compositrices » | Orchestre de Chambre de Paris

2019
Selected composer for “Alain Louvier”’s composition prize, Boulogne-Billancourt competition | FRANCE

2016-18
Scholarship by “Minou Amir-Aslani” foundation | Paris

2015
Selected composer of “ACIMC” composition competition | Paris

2012
Member of IRAN’s National Organisation of Elites

2011
Honor Diploma of UN-HABITAT de l’ONU, for participating in the album “Ava-ye-Solh”

2009
Honor Diploma of DAAD organisation, Allemagne

2008
- First prize of the Festival “Avay-e-Mehr” | Tehran

-Awarded as Best musician of the Festival “Solistes of Tehran”

2006
First prize of “IRAN’s Fin Arts Faculties Festival ” | Tehran