Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, Aida Shirazi’s music is described as “well-made” and “affecting” by The New Yorker. She holds her B.A. in classical piano from Tehran University of Art (Iran), and her B.M. in music composition and theory from Bilkent University (Turkey). She studied santoor (traditional Iranian dulcimer) with Parissa Khosravi Samani.

Shirazi is the winner of Diaphonia and XelmYa+, ACIMC and Bilgi New Music Festival calls for scores.  Her music has been featured in MATA, Klasik Keyifler, Sesin Yolculugu, Young Composers, Young Performers festivals in the United States and Europe, and performed by Andrew McIntosh, Lucy Fitz Gibbon, Ryan McCullough, Alexa Renger, Ellen Jewett, Empyrean Ensemble, FOM (The Friends of MATA) and Bilkent Symphony Orchestra. She has attended workshops with Interface Ensemble (2013) and Yurodny Ensemble (2016).

Her music for solo instruments, voice, ensemble, orchestra and electronics is often influenced by literature, language, and Iranian classical music.

Shirazi has studied with composers Mika Pelo, Kurt Rohde, Yigit Aydin, Onur Turkmen, Tolga Yayalar, Hooshyar Khayam, and Mark Andre.

She was an awardee of a Provost’s Fellowship in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences in the 2016–17 academic year.