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A Unity of Purpose—a musical celebration for Jamshied Sharifi
Wednesday, September 17, 2025 8:30pm
Thomas Tull Concert Hall, MIT Linde Music Building
Celebrating the life and artistry of Jamshied Sharifi and his vision of seeking transcendence in music, long-time collaborators join the MIT Wind Ensemble, MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble, and MIT Concert Choir, to honor his memory.Mirabai Ceiba, Megan Gould, Eleanor Norton, and Evan Ziporyn, join MIT musicians to premiere his last arrangements, close to his heart, and perform some of his original music. The event is free and open to the public. Reserve your tickets here.
About Jamshied Sharifi
As composer, arranger, conductor, record producer, and keyboardist, Jamshied Sharifi was a global citizen of the music world. His own compositions fused elements of Middle Eastern and African music and jazz, going straight to the hearts of listeners. His first solo record, A Prayer for the Soul of Layla, was named Best Contemporary World Music Album at the first annual New Age Voice Music Awards. His passion for film music led to his scoring and/or contributing music for numerous major studio and independent films such as The Thomas Crown Affair, Harriet The Spy, and Clockstoppers, as well as television shows and PBS broadcasts. As a producer, arranger, and keyboardist, Jamshied recorded and/or performed with Paula Cole, Ray Charles, Dream Theater, Laurie Anderson, Hassan Hakmoun, Snatam Kaur, Stevie Wonder, Mirabai Ceiba, and many others, and wrote orchestrations for the Broadway shows The Last Ship, by Sting, and The Band’s Visit, for which he won the 2018 Tony Award for “Best Orchestrations.”
A graduate of MIT (1983) and the Berklee College of Music (1985), Jamshied was endlessly devoted to composing music for MIT students. From his first year as an undergraduate to the current year, a 45-year span from 1980 to 2025, he wrote nearly 40 pieces including works for the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble (an organization in which he performed and then led for seven years), the MIT Wind Ensemble, and two MIT large-scale Jacob Collier events. Among his array of music for MIT is Awakening (in recognition of the Arab Spring), A Resistance, Now, and Praeordinatus Ut Astra Sacrificia Nostra(“Fore-Ordained As Stars Our Sacrifices”),premiered in March, 2025, as part of MIT’s Artfinity Festivaland in honor of the inaugural season of the Thomas Tull Concert Hall. Jamshied's original music and arrangements, and he himself, are featured on two New England Emmy-winning MIT documentary films produced by MIT Video Productions.
About the Performing Artists
Seating Policy
While this event is free, it is necessary to reserve tickets in advance. As seating in Thomas Tull Concert Hall is limited, we encourage you to reserve seats as soon as possible.
Your registration through Eventbrite guarantees you a seat until 15 minutes before the event start time. 15 minutes before the concert start time, we will release open seats to the standby list. If you were not able to register through Eventbrite, you may join the physical standby line in the Thomas Tull Concert Hall Lobby up to one hour before the concert start time.
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Photo Credit: Layla Sakamoto Sharifi