Yalda Yazdani

EDUCATION

University of Siegen, Faculty II – Department of Art and Music

PhD Candidate – Successfully passed doctoral examination (magna cum laude)

“The Politics of Musical Participation: An Ethnographic Study of Women Singers

in Post-Revolutionary Iran”

October 2020 – March 2025

Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul

M.A. Ethnomusicology

Field study with focusing on traditional songs of nomadic women in Qashqai-tribe

in south-west Iran

September 2011 – September 2015

Tehran Azad University, Tehran

B.A. Persian Music Performance

September 2007 – May 2010

SCHOLARSHIPS & AWARDS

DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Award 

Siegen University 

December 2021

House of Young Talents Academy

Promotionsstipendium

Universität Siegen

Oktober 2020-Oktober 2023

Projects

Humboldt Forum – Berlin Global

The Mulberry Tree – Feminist Voices on War and Gardens

An exhibition project by Flamingo NGO - Sound Design/Music Curator

November 2025-August 2027

Feminist Perspectives on Digitalization and Popular Music

Research Fellow

Siegen University, Faculty II – Department of Art and Music

January 2021-March 2025

Female Voices United

Duisburger Philharmoniker

Artistic Director

March 2025

Ukrainian Female Voices

Volksbühne, Berlin

Artistic Director

December 2024

Qashqai Female Voices

Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Köln

Curator (exhibition and events)

March-June 2024

Annual Conference of the German Society for Popular Music Studies 2023

Co-Organisator: “Rock Your Body: Bodies in Interaction with Popular Music“

Siegen University

September 2023

Inner Unity Ensemble in collaboration with Duisburger Philharmoniker

Founder and Artistic Director

Since February 2023

Female Voice of Kurdistan

Artistic Director (Music Festival)

Contemporary Opera, Berlin

March-June 2023

Female Voice of Afghanistan

Artistic Director (Music Festival)

Contemporary Opera, Berlin

July-October 2021

Female Voice of Iran

Co- Director (Feature Documentary)

Contemporary Opera, Berlin

November 2020

Algorhythms of Cultures

Curator and Filmmaker (Music Documentary)

Hermap Art Projects / Residency Program / Goethe Institut

April 2020

Ornament Project, Berlin

Curator (Music Theater)

FrauVonDa / Villa Elisabeth, Berlin

August – November 2019

Female Voice of Iran

Curator (Music Festivals)

Contemporary Opera, Berlin

March 2017 and November 2018

Female Art of Crossing Cultures, Berlin

Curator (Concert series)

Since March 2019

SAZ. The Key of Trust

Assistant Director (Music Documentary)

ARTE, Straßburg and Anthro-Media, Berlin

2018

Music project with refugees

Melanchthon Akademie, Cologne

2016

LECTURES & PANELS

University of Kyoto, Japan

Präsentation: The Situation of Female Singer in Post-revolutionary Iran

September 2025

MultiCultural Families Organization, Gold Coast, Australien

Vortrag: Music Between Creativity and Censorships

August 2025

University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australien

Panel Talk: The Situation of Female Singers in Iran

August 2025

Nawa Festival, Wien, Österreich

Panel Talk: Resistance at the Crossroad of Arts, Activism, Academia

Juni 2025

British Forum for Ethnomusicology Conference

Panel: Sounding Otherwise: Uncovering the silenced past in Iran’s auditory History

University of Cambridge

April 2025

Budapest Ritmo

Moderator: Fieldwork first-hand Capturing tradition and inspiring innovation

House of Music, Budapest

April 2025

Sahba Festival, London and Manchester

Lecture: Tales of Zagros Mountains

January 2025

Central European University, Budapest

Lecture: Female singers in Post Revolutionary Iran

July 2024

Katholische Universität, Eichstätt

Lecture: The Politics of Musical performance in Post Revolutionary Iran

July 2024

Sheeciety Club Women Empowerment, Berlin

Concert (Tar)

June 2024

Sounds of Zagrosian & Köln Film Festival, Cologne

Panel: Female Filmmakers in Iran

June 2024

Center for World Music, Hildesheim

Presentation, Concert (Tar) and Workshop

May 2024

Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Cologne

Panel with Maryam Akhondy (Women’s Music in Iran)

March 2023

Imago DEI Festival, Klangraum Krems

Presentation: Women's Music in Iran, Afghanistan and Kurdistan

March 2023

Moods, Nowruz Festival/Jazzhane, Zürich

Presentation: Music of Resilience. Women's Singing in Iran, Afghanistan and Kurdistan

March 2023

Jazzwerkstatt, Bern

Panel: Discussion on Democracy in Art & Music

March 2023

Spore Initiative, Berlin

Concert (Tar): Voices of Women from Kurdistan, Armenia, Iran & Afghanistan

March 2023

Fasching, Women's International Jazz Festival, Stockholm

Keynote: Women Singers in Post-revolutionary Iran

March 2023

Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Cologne

Panel with Sima Bina (Qashqai Female Voices and Lullabies)

March 2023

Post in Progress, 7th International Post-graduate Forum in Studies in Music and

Dance, Lisbon

Keynote: Women Singers in Post-revolutionary Iran

December 2023

World Music Expo, WOMEX 2023, La Coruña

Presentation: Voices Unveiled: Female Singers in Post-revolutionary Iran

October 2023

Martin-Luther-University, Halle-Wittenberg

International Conference "Music of Persian Speaking Countries and Regions:

Similarities, Differences, and Musical Identities"

Presentation: The Situation of Female Singers in Iran

October 2023

Reeperbahn Festival, BDKV & Germandream.de

Schmid Theater Hamburg

Panel: LIVE FÜR ALLE: Lebt die Kulturbranche an der Gesellschaft vorbei?

September 2023

Reeperbahn Festival. Hamburg

Panel: Fear of the Female Voice

September 2023

Vision Talk, Ethnokino Festival, Bern

Presentation: The Female Voice of Afghanistan

September 2023

Queen’s University, Belfast

Conference: “Politics in Music and Songs”

Presentation: “Politics of Musical Participation in Iran”

September 2023

47th World Conference of the International Council for Traditional Music, Accra, Ghana

Presentation: The Female Voice of Afghanistan. An Ethnographic Research by Focusing

on Musical Activities of Women Singers in Afghanistan

July 2023

Music4change “Sustainability in Music Research and Education”, University of Bergen

Keynote Speaker: Exploring Gender, Critical Race and intersectional Perspectives

June 2023

University of Helsinki

Music, Research and Activisim Conference

Presentation: Politics of Musical Performance

May 2023

Ritmo Festival, Budapest

Panel: “Music through Conflicts and Social Challenges”

April 2023

Festival Houbara - Resonanzen Iran, Stadtgarten, Cologne

Presentation: Female Singers in Post-Revolutionary Iran

March 2023

Music Department of Accra University, Ghana

Presentation: The Politics of Musical Participation in Iran

February 2023

FilmForum Duisburg / Duisburger Philharmoniker

Panel: The Female Voice of Iran (Dokumentarfilm)

February 2023

Go for Gender Justice meets Via Reformata, Melanchthon-Akademie, Köln

Presentation: Female Voice of Iran

January 2023

Insert Female Artist, Burg Hülshoff

Presentation: "I Want My Voice to be Heard - Female Singers of Iran”

December 2022

Voices of Women Conference, University of Groningen

Presentation /Screening: "Politics of Musical Performance in Iran”

December 2022

Hamburg University of Music and Drama

Panel: The situation of women singers in Iran

November 2022

Afghan Music in Exile, STADTRAUM, Frankfurt

Presentation/Screening "Female Voice of Afghanistan"

November 2022

De Koer, Gent

Presentation/Screening: "Female Voice of Iran"

November 2022

15 Minutes of Femme, Berlin

Panel:" Female Musicians in Iran and Afghanistan”

October 2022

46th World Conference of the International Council for Traditional Music, Lissabon

Presentation: “Women's Music in Marginalized Communities: An Ethnographic Study on

the Role of Music in the Daily life of Qashqai Female Singers”

July 2022

Womex, (Worldwide Music Expo), Porto

Panel: "Artists As Terrorists?"

October 2021

XXXVI ESEM, Valladolid

Presentation: "The Politics of Musical Participation: An Ethnographic Study of Women

Singers in Post-Revolutionary Iran"

September 2021

Joint Symposium of the ICTM National Committees of the Czech Republic, Poland and

Germany

Presentation/Screening: “Phenotypes and Variations of Female Voices in Iran: An

Ethnographic Research on the Relationships Between Music, Language and Cultural

Tradition in Qashqai tribe”

February 2020

Jazzwerkstatt Music Festival, Bern

Presentation/Screening “Women's Music in Iran”

March 2020

Asia Pacific Congress of Music Therapy 2019, Beijing Normal University

Presentation: “Music Therapy and Traditional Healing Rituals in Iran: Ethnographic

Research by Focusing on the Zaar, Govati and Porkhani Ceremonies”

September 2019

Rudolstadt-Festival

Presentation: “Women’s Music and Women Musicians in Post-Revolutionary Iran”

July 2019

Ornament Project, Berlin

Presentation/Screening: “Ornament in Iranian Traditional Music: An Ethnographic

Research on Women Songs”

November 2019

University of Music and Theatre Munich

Presentation/Workshop: “About the role of female singers in Iran after the revolution”

November 2018

University of Cologne, Institute of Musicology

Lecture: „Iranian Women Musicians in Transcultural Dialogue “

February 2017

PRESENTATIONS

Music, Research, and Activism Conference, Helsinki, Finland
 Presentation: Politics of Musical performance 
 May 2023 

Ritmo Festival, Budaperst, Hungary
 Panel discussion: "Music Through Conflicts and Social Changes". 
 April 2023 

Im Rahmen vom Festival Houbara - Resonanzen Iran, Stadtgarten,
Cologne Presentation: Female Singers in Post-revolutionary Iran
March 2023

Music Department of Accra University, Ghana
Presentation: The Politics of Musical Participation in Iran
February 2023

FilmForum Duisburg in Collaboration with Duisburg Philharmonic
Panel discussion: The Female Voice of Iran documentary film
February 2023

Go for Gender Justice meets Via Reformata, Melanchthon Academy,
Cologne
Presentation: Female Voice of Iran
January 2023

Insert Female Artist, Center for literature - Burg Hülshoff
Presentation: "I Want My Voice to be Heard", Female Singers of Iran
December, 2022

Voices of Women Conference, Groningen, Netherlands
Presentation/ Screening:"Politics of Musical Performance in Iran
December 2022

University of Theater and Music, Hamburg
Panel discussion: The situation of women singers in Iran
November 2022

Afghan Music in Exile, STADTRAUM, Frankfurt
Presentation/ Screening "Female Voice of Afghanistan"
November 2022

De Koer, Gent, Belgium
Presentation/ Screening: "Female Voice of Iran"
November 2022

15 Minutes of Femme Event, Berlin
Panel Discussion:" Female Musicians in Iran and Afghanistan
October 2022

Womex, (Worldwide Music Expo), Porto, Portugal
Panel: "Artists As Terrorists?"
With Paige Collings (UK/Denmark) and Jasmina Lazovic (Serbia)
October 2021

XXXVI ESEM, Valladolid, Spain
Presentation: "The Politics of Musical Participation: An Ethnographic Study of Women Singers in Post-Revolutionary Iran"
September 2021

Joint Symposium of the ICTM National Committees of the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany Presentation/Screening: “Phenotypes and Variations of Female Voices in Iran: An Ethnographic Research on the Relationships Between Music, Language and Cultural Tradition in Qashqai tribe”
February 2020

Jazzwerkstatt Music Festival, Bern, Switzerland
Presentation/Screening “Women's Music in Iran”.
March 2020

Asia Pacific Congress of Music Therapy 2019, Beijing Normal University
Lecture: “Music Therapy and Traditional Healing Rituals in Iran: Ethnographic Research by Focusing on the Zaar, Govati and Porkhani Ceremonies”
September 2019

Rudolstadt Festival
Lecture “Women’s Music and Women Musicians in Post-Revolutionary Iran”
July 2019

Ornament Project, Berlin, Germany
Presentation/Screening: “Ornament in Iranian Traditional Music: An Ethnographic Research on Women Songs”.
November 2019

Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Munich
Lecture/Workshop: “About the role of female singers in Iran after the revolution”
November 2018

University of Cologne, Institute of Musicology
Lecture: „Iranian Women Musicians in Transcultural Dialogue“
February 2017