Nazanin Aghakhani has gained worldwide recognition as a conductor, composer, pianist & producer throughout the past 20 years.
Just recently Nazanin Aghakhani happened to be the very first Viennese woman in a time span of almost 100 years to be conducting the renowned Vienna Symphony Orchestra, originally known as the „Wiener Symphoniker“ .
Often cited as “the pioneer of a special kind”, Nazanin is the very first woman in history to ever conduct an orchestra in concert in Iran – the Tehran Symphony Orchestra in 2010.
The Vienna born artist with Iranian roots (furthermore Kazakh ancestry) is well known as the “lady with nerves made out of steel” & has been booked regularly as a last-minute “jump-in” conductor for several houses, orchestras & festivals such as: Aarhus Symphony Denmark, Staatsorchester Braunschweig Germany, Musica Nova Helsinki, Turku Philharmonic Finland, Aurora Festival Sweden, Norrköping Symphony Sweden, Royal Opera Stockholm, Royal Philharmonic Stockholm, Wien Modern, Salzburger Festspiele, Wiener Symphoniker, Wiener Volksoper – & many more.
Watch Interview with Gabi Flossmann (German language).
Nazanin Aghakhani loves bringing contemporary compositions to life on a regular basis – also her own.
She sees it to her mission, to always keep music in it´s most natural form – even on her recordings.
All her albums are in the original live take & consist often, even in orchestral instrumentation, of improvised material & are totally uncut. Her latest orchestra album “IUNCTUS – the Orchestra – live in concert” is right at the moment in post production & will be released by the beginning of April 2025.
During the pandemic Nazanin discovered her love for chansons & recorded her most personal live album with own compositions in the lounge of the then deserted Hotel Bristol in Vienna during heavy lockdown. The live audio recording was also accompanied by a live video team, also her own production, to witness the authentic music making without any corrections.
Nazanin Aghakhani also founded the Vienna-based orchestra “IUNCTUS – the Orchestra” (iunctus = being connected) in 2020, in the very midst of the pandemic, to enhance local artistic collaborations of high-end level on a home ground basis.
With this orchestra Nazanin Aghakhani lives out her personal artistic passion to the fullest:
Combining “classical” repertoire with own compositions & never before heard sounds, even orchestral improvisations, mark performances with “IUNCTUS – the Orchestra” as very unique stage & concert experiences of highest quality for all people involved: in audience & on stage.
Watch reel on „IUNCTUS – the Orchestra“ (English language).
As a mother of two, the future generation is of special big concern to Nazanin Aghakhani:
Several publications, lectures and lead masterclasses marked Aghakhani as “the very different tutor”, who not only wants to pass on the secrets of highly polished conducting and rehearsing technique but also sees it as her duty, to share her personal thoughts on professional experience with the next generation regarding “artistic responsibility”, creating magic on stage and therefore influencing co-musicians and audience at the same time positively. As an online teaching series Aghakhani is renown for her “NCS – Nazanin´s Conducting Series”.
Watch the NCS Playlist on YouTube.
„After Nazanin Aghakhani had left the concert hall together with all her musicians, the whole space was still filled with her enormous mental storm & her musical electricity she had then just created. Her precise beating technique combined with well-thought phrasing leaves no listener untouched.“
Helsingin Sanomat/Finland on world premiere of opera „Fatal Lessons“ by Ville Raasakka
