Biography
Composer | Educator | Artistic Director
Imagination, innovation, and storytelling are central to Dr. Parisa Sabet’s creative practice. As a composer, she creates works that explore sound while often integrating visual elements, movement, and material/craft. Drawing from her Iranian heritage and Western classical training, she engages audiences through music and multisensory experiences that evoke emotional and cultural resonance.
Dr. Sabet’s work spans acoustic, electroacoustic, and multimedia compositions. Sabzeh (2024) is an immersive installation integrating sound, dance, fiber art, video, and live-growing sprouts, exploring growth, interconnectedness, and resilience. Sepideh (2023) for piano, audio playback, and video investigates visual and sonic symbolism through ribbons, reflecting collective strength and identity. Silent (2022), commissioned by the Charsu Quartet, blends clarinet, cello, piano, narration, audio playback, dance, and visuals, inspired by Forough Farokhzad’s The Wind-Up Doll, portraying the voice of an oppressed woman striving for change.
Her research examines how texture, timbre, and gesture shape musical form and how these elements can be extended across visual, performative, and material dimensions. This work informs her compositions, allowing her to structure pieces in which multiple expressive elements develop together coherently.
As an educator, Dr. Sabet empowers students to develop their creative voices. Her initiative No Need to Vanish provides accessible resources for musicians from diverse backgrounds. She is passionate about equipping emerging composers with the tools they need to tell their stories and share their perspectives.
Beyond composition and education, Dr. Sabet is a committed artistic leader. From 2019 to 2024, she served on the Board of Directors of the Aurora Cultural Centre, chairing its Governance and Nominating Committee. Since 2014, she has also produced Farsi-language podcasts on social issues for the Persian Baha’i Media Service in Washington, DC.
Her socially engaged projects have brought people together across cultural and political divides. The Dawn Initiative (2019), funded by the Ontario Arts Council, presented world premieres by an international lineup of composers, fostering conversations on social unity. As co-artistic director of the Israeli-Iranian Musical Initiative, she led concerts that celebrated Jewish, Israeli, and Iranian cultures, drawing diverse audiences who might not otherwise share a space.
Dr. Sabet’s debut album, A Cup of Sins (2022), features a collection of her acoustic and electroacoustic works, confronting themes of human rights, oppression, violence against women, and freedom of speech. The album was made possible with support from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.
She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts, a Master of Music in Composition, and a Master of Music Technology and Digital Media from the University of Toronto, where she received distinctions such as the Mirkopoulos and Miller/Khoshkish fellowships and the Tecumesh Sherman Rogers Graduating Award. Her mentors include Christos Hatzis, Keith Tedman, Kyong Mee Choi, Ka Nin Chan, and Stacy Garrop.
Through all her work, Dr. Sabet remains committed to using music as a bridge—connecting people, stories, and cultures in meaningful ways.
