BioBorn and raised in Tehran, Ali Rafiee moved to London in 2002 to pursue his studies. He attended the Centre for Young Musicians where he studied with Vincent Lindsey-Clark and Tom Dupré, before going on to pursue his musical education at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he completed my Bachelor with Honours in 2010 and obtained a Masters in 2011. At Guildhall, Ali was trained in classical guitar by Robert Brightmore and also the studied lute and theorbo with David Miller. He was awarded a Guildhall Artist Fellowship to support his work on a contemporary guitar repertoire twice, first for 2012-13 academic year and subsequently for the 2014-15 year. Ali has collaborated with and commissioned pieces for guitar from composers such as Julian Philips, Paul Newland and Alexis Bennett. After six years of focusing on performance at Guildhall, Ali decided to turn his attention to musicology, undertaking a second Masters at the University of Oxford, during which time he took a particular interest in medieval Middle-Eastern music. Alongside his musical activities, Ali also pursued a degree in Law which he completed in 2020.
Ali is a versatile performer, who plays both solo and in ensembles, has an equal interest in contemporary and medieval music, and complement his expertise in classical guitar with a range of historical string instruments. He has played the oud, gittern, and medieval lute with the Medieval and Renaissance collective The Fellowshippe of Musickers, classical guitar, ranging from Bach to Reich, with Finbarr Malafronte in the Nocturnal Guitar Duo, and folk/jazz guitar with Thomas Abela. When performing solo, Ali is particularly interested in building the classical guitar repertoire with new compositions that combine influences from Middle-Eastern and Western traditions. |
Concerts & RecordingsAli has recorded several CDs with the Fellowshippe of Musickers, playing music from the 12th- to 14th-century music, which ranges from Hildegaard to cantigas de Santa Maria to Dufay.
Ali has also performed widely across the UK and Europe:
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