Royal Philharmonic Society –
Az nahāyate tāriki shortlisted for the RPS Award 2024
“Az nahāyate tāriki” – (From the Deep End of Darkness) for soprano voice and harpsichord has been shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for chamber-scale composition 2024. The winner will be announced at the 2024 RPS Awards on 5 March 2024 in Manchester.
ArtMuseLondon –
“Unbound: Mahan Esfahani & Carolyn Sampson on disc and in recital” by Adrian Ainsworth – July 2023
“It’s hard to imagine a more apt musical metaphor for the topic addressed by the text. Everything screamed constraint, as if the performers had been initially robbed of their ‘signature’ abilities – while at the same time, the piece demanded they try to surmount those constraints, pushed to their limits in order that some music can escape; that they be heard.”
Seen and Heard International –
“Carolyn Sampson and Mahan Esfahani’s richly rewarding recital opens the Three Choirs Festival 2023” by John Quinn
“Az nahāyate tāriki is technically and emotionally challenging; listening to it is far from a comfortable experience – nor should it be, given the intention behind the work. Both artists performed this inventive music with evident commitment and technical accomplishment. The first performance was warmly greeted by the audience, as was the composer when she joined the performers to acknowledge the applause.”
Lions Composition Competition 2023
“Nilufar Habibian honoured at the LIONS composition competition“
The LIONS composition competition was held at ABPU on March 20, 2023. Nilufar Habibian won the competition and received first prize for her composition “Rabete”.
The Wire (issue 451) –
On Location Festivals, concerts, clubs: Nilufar Habibian and Cerpintxt, Four Years Of Chinabot, Cafe Oto, London, UK
“Next up is Nilufar Habibian, whose tense performance on the traditional Eastern stringed instrument qanun provided a virtuosic cacophony of caustic scraping and sawing backed with a wall of overtones and the occasional pluck which would otherwise be rather melodic, but in this case gives the impression of a drowning person struggling to stay afloat.”
Nilufar Habibian 