Concert Orchestrator – Jamshied Sharifi
"For both [my albums] One and A Prayer for the Soul of Layla, the inspiration has been to make music true to my heart and interests"
Jamshied Sharifi is a Tony Award-winning American composer, conductor, musician, and record producer. Born in Kansas to an Iranian father and an American mother, Sharifi was exposed to music at an early age, learning Jazz and Middle Eastern music through his father and European classical and church music through his mother.
Jamshied graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in humanities, went on to further his musical education at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
1985–1992, under Sharifi's direction and leadership, the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble recorded two CDs, performed twenty of his compositions, and won the prestigious Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival in 1991.
Together with Michael Gibbs they scored three feature films and fifteen one-hour television shows. Sharifi went on to compose soundtracks to many major studio and independent films, contributing to the scores of The Thomas Crown Affair, and The Rugrats Movie.
While Sharifi's initial focus in music can be credited to American jazz, it is his infusions of elements from the Middle East and Africa that make his music distinctive.
In addition to creating his own albums and scoring films, Sharifi has arranged and produced albums for many artists. His first solo album, A Prayer for the Soul of Layla, received critical acclaim including Best Contemporary World Music Album at the 1st Annual New Age Voice Music Awards. His next release One continues to explore his inimitable approach to music. "For both One and A Prayer for the Soul of Layla, the inspiration has been to make music true to my heart and interests" says Sharifi.