AroojAftab

Over the last few years, Grammy award-winning artist Arooj Aftab has emerged as one of the most innovative composers and vocalists of our time, a true visionary whose architectural compositions unfurl into moving reflections on love and loss. Her work mellifluously blends a wide array of genres, from jazz to minimalism to Pakistani semi-classical, and she sings with such intentionality and focus that it sounds like she is chiselling every word out of marble.

Her incredible work has resonated with listeners across the globe: She has been named one of NPR’s Top 100 composers and has been featured on several best concert lists, including one by The New York Times. Her 2021 Vulture Prince album was met with critical acclaim from The Guardian, Time Magazine, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times. Aftab has performed at major international music festivals, including Coachella, Glastonbury, Primavera Sound Barcelona, Roskilde Festival, and Montreal Jazz Festival. She has also performed at Performance Art Centers such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, and The Broad. Aftab is a 2023 United States Artists Fellow and a recipient of the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Music.

Aftab is inspired by the poetics of the ordinary – the grandeur of a centuries-old tree, the glow of the moon, the yearning floating in the air at dusk, the drama of an incomplete love affair – these inspirations are the mirror to her music, as she witnesses the world. The emotions Aftab conveys feel intimate and familiar like they were pulled from a forgotten dream. But her musical skill is so precise and her voice is so singular that the music sounds like nothing that has ever come before it.