Majid Amani is a Kurmanj-Persian classical guitarist, dotar player, composer, scholar, music educator, writer, and poet, based in Sydney, Australia. Majid started playing the dotar, a traditional Iranian musical instrument, at the age of 5. He holds a bachelor's degree in music performance from The University of Tehran (2008), a Master's degree (performance) from The University of Arts, Tehran (2011), and a Doctor of Musical Arts (performance) from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney (2022). He is a first-prize winner at the Tehran Guitar Competition (2006), a former research assistant at The Iranian Academy of Arts (2014-2018), a former teacher at the Tehran Conservatory of Music (2015-2018), and a recipient of the Henderson Postgraduate Research Scholarship from The University of Sydney (2018-2021).
Majid studied guitar with Hamid Navayi, Simon Ayvazian, Alireza Tafaghodi, Mehrdad Pakbaz, and Vladimir Gorbach. He has also performed in masterclasses by notable guitarists such as Walter Wurdinger (professor at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts), the late Lily Afshar (former head of the guitar program at the University of Memphis), and Andras Csaki (professor at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest), etc.
Majid has presented numerous solo recitals and collaborated with a wide range of ensembles and performers in Iran and Australia as a guitarist and dotar player. He has performed at the Tehran Evangelical Church, the Austrian Cultural Centre in Tehran, the Iranian Artists Forum, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Alfa Gallery, and Willoughby Uniting Church, to name a few. He has collaborated with ensembles such as The University of Tehran Guitar Orchestra -as soloist, composer, and concertmaster-, Pedram Falsafi Ensemble, Tehran Guitar Quartet -as founder and composer-, and the PostgRadical Ensemble. He has also collaborated in multiple projects with the guitarist Peter Doublinszki and composer Shervin Mirzeinali. As a performer-composer, he is deeply committed to bringing new works to life. He has long championed the music of Iranian composer Mehrdad Pakbaz, and has performed works by Australian composers Alison Cole and Angus Davison. He has also premiered multiple compositions by Iranian-Australian composer Shervin Mirzeinali, including the opera Panbe-Zan, which won the 2022 APRA-AMCOS Work of the Year (Dramatic).
Majid’s compositions include works for solo guitar and chamber music, among them Twelve Preludes for solo guitar, Invention for violin and guitar, Le Yarei for flute and guitar, and a string quartet. He has also composed and performed music for Iranian theatre productions. His research publications are focused primarily on Persian contemporary music and classical guitar. His poems have also been published in Iranian magazines since 2000.
Majid is currently a casual academic at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he teaches and conducts research. He is also an accredited member of the Music Teachers’ Association of NSW.