As Artistic Director and Concept Creator of CozyMinimal, I initiated a performance series exploring the intersection of Persian musical heritage and Western minimalism. This artistic direction emerged from a desire to frame Persian musical repetition—not as a stylistic echo of minimalism, but as an historically rooted, independent aesthetic. The project situates Persian forms such as Khayyam Khani and the cyclical structures found in classical modal systems within a broader minimal music discourse.

CozyMinimal performances feature newly composed and collaboratively developed works for Persian and Western instruments. The ensemble has included Ehsan Kachooei (setar), Ali Yarmohammadi (tar), Arman Gouniaei (tombak), and myself, Shervin Mirzeinali, on piano and electronics. Together, we create durational works that incorporate modal cycles, slow transformation, and layered textures, inviting deep listening and meditative engagement.

This series contributes to the development of a contemporary Iranian-Australian musical language. It reflects an ongoing effort to diversify the Australian new music landscape by highlighting underrepresented cultural logics, forms, and sonic vocabularies. Through CozyMinimal, we aim to create a space for cultural translation—where tradition and innovation meet on equal terms.

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