Kimia Koochakzadeh-Yazdi is a composer and performer. She writes for hybrid instrumental/electronic ensembles, creates electroacoustic and audiovisual works, builds instruments, and performs electronic music. She explores the unfamiliar familiar while being motived by emotions and the perception of them. Musical extremes energizes her process, and finding ways to play with various musical thresholds is something that she is currently attracted to.

“Accidents” in music excites her because oftentimes they have become the basis of her pieces. Incorporating her Iranian background and her experiences living in Iran is important to her compositional process, and she currently focuses on merging Iranian music with what she has learned from living in Canada and the US.

Being a cross-disciplinary artist, she has actively collaborated on projects evolving around dance, film, and theatre. She is the co-founder and producer of Fashion x Electronics, a collective focused on creating interdisciplinary works based on fashion and electronic music.

Kimia’s work has been showcased by organizations across the globe. and has been featured in publications such as The Her work has been performed internationally at festivals including Ars Electronica, Festival Ecos Urbanos, Tehran Contemporary Sounds, Sonic Matter Festival, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, Sound and Music Conference, and Modulus Festival, among others.

She holds a BFA in Music Composition from Simon Fraser University’s Interdisciplinary School for the Contemporary Arts, having studied with Sabrina Schroeder and Mauricio Pauly. Kimia is currently pursuing her DMA in Music Composition at Stanford University.