Hailing from Tehran, Iran, NILOUFAR MIRZANABI KHANI (cello) graduated from Tehran Music School in 2019 and holds ahigh school diploma in cello performance. She started learning the cello at the age of 13 under the guidance of Professor Karim Ghorbani and Mr. Annar Etaati. During her time in Tehran, she actively participated in various competitions and festivals. Notably, she achieved first prize in cello performance at the National Youth Music Festival of Iran in 2018, having won second prize the prior year. Her versatility extends beyond the cello, as she also demonstrated her talent in Kanun; a Middle Eastern instrument, at the Renaissance International Contest Festival in Armenia, where she was awarded third prize, and was invited to study at Comitas Conservatory in Yerevan.
From 2016 to 2019, Mirzanabi Khani served as a member of the Shargh Chamber Orchestra and held the position of principal cellist at the Tehran Music School. Currently, she is a member of the South Florida Symphony, and has performed with the Palm Beach Symphony and Charleston Symphony. Additionally, her chamber group, Boulanger String Quartet, was awarded second prize in the Lyric Chamber Competition at Lynn Conservatory in 2022.
Mirzanabi Khani has had masterclasses with renowned cellists Gary Hoffman, Peter Wiley, David Finckel, Wu Han, Zlatomir Fung, Mathias Johansen, Rafael Figueroa, Neal Carry, John Harbison, and Giovanni Ricciardi. She attended the Eastern Music Festival in 2022 on a full scholarship, where she studied under Julian Schwarz. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in cello performance from Lynn Conservatory of Music in the studio of David Cole, where she was the recipient of scholarships from the Ruth Nelson Kraft Foundation and the Toppel Family Foundation. She was also one of the three finalists at the John Oliveira String Competition and received the M. Elizabeth Maddy Cumpton Endowed Memorial Award for outstanding conservatory student of strings at Lynn University. She is now pursuing her master’s degree in cello performance under Richard Aaron at the University of Michigan.