Saba Yousefi - Violin
About Saba
Saba Yousefi is an Iranian-Canadian violinist, educator, concert curator, and artistic leader based in Toronto. Her work brings together performance, contemporary music, cultural collaboration, and innovative concert programming, with a particular interest in creating meaningful connections between musicians, composers, and diverse audiences.
Saba holds a Master of Music in Violin Performance and a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance with a minor in Philosophy from the University of Toronto, where she was also a recipient of the University of Toronto Graduate Scholarship for Academic Excellence. As a performer, she has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician across Canada, Iran, China, the United States, and Europe, with notable performances including an appearance at Salle Bourgie in Montreal. She is a former member of the Ontario Philharmonic and has participated in a range of contemporary and cross-cultural music projects.
A strong advocate for new music, Saba is particularly dedicated to collaborating with living composers and creating programs that explore cultural identity, contemporary artistic expression, and new approaches to concert presentation. In 2025, she was selected as one of only three violinists worldwide to participate in the prestigious Bang on a Can Summer Festival in the United States. She is also the co-founder of Paisley Duo, a violin and soprano ensemble dedicated to commissioning, performing, and promoting contemporary repertoire.
Since 2024, Saba has increasingly focused on concert curation and artistic programming, developing projects and performances across Canada. Her curatorial work emphasizes innovative programming, interdisciplinary collaboration, and creating spaces for underrepresented voices in music. She has co-curated the Women, Art, Resilience concert series, including an international call for scores highlighting women composers, and has curated programs for festivals and concert presenters across Canada. In 2026, she was invited to curate two concert programs for Stratford Summer Music.
Alongside her performance and curatorial work, Saba is committed to music education and accessibility. She is the co-founder of LyreIran, a collaborative educational initiative providing free music education resources to students, educators, and musicians, with a particular focus on increasing access to music education in the Middle East. Her educational work includes teaching, workshops, webinars, and collaborations with composers and music students.
Saba’s artistic practice is grounded in curiosity, collaboration, and a desire to expand the possibilities of classical and contemporary music. Through performance, education, and curation, she seeks to create projects that connect different musical traditions, amplify diverse artistic voices, and invite audiences into new musical experiences.