Draft:Kaveh Vares

Kaveh Vares (1982) is an Iranian-Dutch composer and music educator. He is known for his diverse composing repertoire in addition to his musical pedagogy. He is the current artistic leader of the Composing for Film Masters program at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

Early life
Vares was born in Tehran, Iran. His interest in music began at the age of five when he encountered Beethoven's symphonies and wondered how it was possible to create such music. During childhood he played the piano competitively. He obtained a bachelor's degree in physics from Azad University before continuing on to pursue composition.

Education
Vares studied composition for two years at Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan under the tutelage of Artur Avanesov. During this time he was exposed to the Russian style of composing, particularly through the lessons of Avanesov. It was also during this period that he learned about the Netherlands. Vares decided to apply for multiple musical conservatories in the Netherlands in hopes that he could attend one of them. Studying in the Netherlands would fulfill his two goals of becoming a professional composer and living in a democratic nation.

In 2012 Vares completed a bachelor's of Classical Music Composition from the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Under the guidance of Richard Ayres, Wim Henderickx, and Willem Jeths, he then obtained a Masters of classical music composition from the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Simultaneously, under the guidance of Jurre Haanstra, he obtained a Masters of film music composition. During his studies, Vares developed himself as a versatile composer for dance, theater, film, orchestras, and ensembles. He completed both Master's degrees by 2014.

Career
After graduation he began his career as a composer, working as a freelancer on a plethora of projects. Vares has worked with Asko/Schönberg Ensemble, Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, Calefax Reed Quintet, Mohammad Motamedi, Maya Fridman, and Matangi Quartet. He has been commissioned by organizations such as Gaudeamus Foundation, Cello Biennale Amsterdam, and Orkest de Ereprijs.

Vares has scored film music for FENIX (Netflix), SK13 (directed by Tony Zierra), Moja Polska (VPRO), Sansur (directed by Mostafa Heravi), Tarikat (directed by Jasmijn Schrofer), FEMI (Studio Ruba), and We Are Not Princesses (Amazon Prime).

In addition, Vares has been commissioned to score music for theater and dance productions by Korzo Theater Den Haag, De Toneelmakkerij, Het Laagland, and Danstheater AYA.

On the educational front, he developed and taught various courses for the Conservatory of Amsterdam, Netherlands Film Academy, and Academy of Theatre and Dance. In 2021 he became the artistic leader of the Master Composing for Film program at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, continuing the legacy of department founder Jurre Haanstra.