Hesam Abedini is an Iranian–American composer, performer, improviser, and educator whose work explores intersections of classical Persian music, jazz, Western contemporary traditions, and computer music. His works reflect a polystylistic approach to intercultural music-making, bringing diverse traditions into dialogue through improvisation and composition. His music has been performed by ensembles such as the JACK Quartet, Del Sol Quartet, Eclipse Quartet, Hypercube, loadbang, and Amalgama Ensemble. As the founding member of the Sibarg Ensemble, he has helped shape a distinctive intercultural voice combining classical Persian music and jazz.
Hesam is also active as a curator, producer, and filmmaker. His interdisciplinary projects include the NEA- and Roshan-sponsored documentary From Isfahan to Irvine, archived at the Library of Congress, and several albums: Cipher (with Sibarg Ensemble), Kooch-e Khamân (co-produced with Del Sol Quartet, Billboard Classical Chart #5), Ode to Love (with Namâd Ensemble), and Circadian Etudes (with The Assembly for Distance Alchemy). He is a writer for the Pish Radif website, an educational platform created to make classical Persian music accessible to learners from all backgrounds. His curatorial projects include Music of Exile at the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles and the Doornavâzi Festival, highlighting intercultural voices in performance and dialogue.
His scholarship appears in Iran Amplified: One Hundred Years of Music and Society (Ilex/Harvard Univ. Press, 2025), and he has presented widely on intercultural music, improvisation, and inclusive approaches to music theory pedagogy.
Educated at the Tehran Music Conservatory, the Yerevan State Conservatory, UC San Diego (B.A.), and UC Irvine (Ph.D. in Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology), Hesam studied with Lei Liang, Chinary Ung, Anthony Davis, Mark Dresser, Christopher Dobrian, Michael Dessen, Kojiro Umezaki, and Hossein Omoumi. He has taught at UC Irvine, Saddleback College, Soka University of America, and Butte College. In 2025 he joined the School of Music at California State University, Fullerton as Assistant Professor of Composition–Music Theory, where he also serves as Assistant Director of the CSUF New Music Series.
