iman khosrowpour
Conductor, violinist, educator and scholar, Iman Khosrowpour’s career has enjoyed a uniquely multi-faceted trajectory. He has conducted professional ensembles in Europe, including the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine, Berlin Sinfonietta and the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra. He served as Conductor and Artistic Director of the Irvine Valley College (IVC) Symphony Orchestra in Southern California from 2014-2021, annually leading several concerts as well as with The Ill-Tempered Chamber Players, the Baroque-sized ensemble he founded in 2013. In addition to performing the great symphonic literature of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Bruckner and others, the orchestra has given several world premieres of local composers and IVC students and faculty. In 2016 Iman made his conducting debut at the world-renowned Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and returned to conduct there in 2020 and 2025.
A passionate educator, Iman is in high demand as an orchestra clinician and adjudicator. He has presented seminars on string pedagogy at conferences, is an active member of the Conductors Guild and has participated in their workshops in New York City and Montréal, and has organized annual strings masterclasses for the Music Association of California Community Colleges Conference. Iman maintains a highly successful and active private violin and viola teaching studio in Southern California, and his students are prizewinners in regional and international competitions and active as concertmaster and principal players in several youth orchestras. He is the Strings Coach for the orchestras of University, Irvine and Northwood High Schools and Rancho San Joaquin Middle School in Irvine, California. His students have gone on to study at such prestigious universities as Stanford, Princeton, Columbia and Northwestern Universities; University of California Los Angeles, Irvine and Berkley; University of Southern California, and others.
In 2015 Iman founded the Irvine Music Festival, an intensive summer program for dedicated young musicians, now in partnership with Concordia University Irvine. In summer 2026 IMF celebrates its eleventh season. Guest artists include world-class soloists and principal players from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and faculty from the University of California Los Angeles, University of Southern California and the Colburn School, among others.
Born in Tehran, Iran, Iman’s family immigrated to the United States when he was two years old. For two years he studied remotely with the legendary Maestro Neeme Järvi in online masterclasses and has worked with Professors Donald Schleicher, Ulrich Windfuhr and Maestro Carl St. Clair. During the 2021-22 season Iman had the privilege to attend numerous rehearsals and concerts of his mentor Paavo Järvi with the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich. Iman has also closely observed rehearsals of Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta and Philippe Jordan with the LA Philharmonic, as well as the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. Iman holds music degrees from the Peabody Institute, Rice University and New England Conservatory, studying with Erick Friedman (prized pupil of the legendary Jascha Heifetz), William R. Kennedy, Sylvia Rosenberg, Kathleen Winkler and Masuko Ushioda. He also earned a Masters of Arts Degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard University, writing an award-winning thesis paper on the film music of Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. He has worked as a translator for the Saito Kinen Matsumoto Festival led by the late Seiji Ozawa.
Iman’s other interests include international film and travel. His new blog "Resonant Craft: He speaks English, Spanish, German, Farsi and Japanese.
Instagram: @iman_khosrowpour