Elana Sasson is a vocalist, composer, and bandleader creating music at the intersection of Kurdish and Persian traditions, contemporary jazz, and Mediterranean folkloric influences. She explores themes of identity and duality: weaving emotive modal melodies, intricate harmonic textures, and diverse instrumentation to dialogue between tradition and modernity.
Shaped by years of training with master musicians from Iran and Kurdistan and studies at the Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Elana’s clear voice reflects a fusion of rich tradition and personal expression. Her music has been celebrated with nods from global press such as Songlines Magazine, who described her voice as “an arrestingly beautiful focus” and gave a 4 star review to the album ‘Golestan’. Her new album, ’In Between’ released with PKMusik in April 2025 and received shining reviews from press, including a 4 star review from Songlines.
She has graced global stages at prestigious venues such as Fundación Juan March (Madrid, Spain), Palau de Les Arts Reina Sofia (Valencia, Spain), Stone Nest (London, UK), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco, California), and Fabrica Research Centre (Treviso, Italy). Elana has been featured in several international festivals such as UPV Jazz Festival, Fronteras Festival, and Festival dels Horts.
Elana’s voice can be heard on Growing Songs, a 2024 album produced by esteemed Iranian vocalist Mahsa Vahdat, and her music was featured in the 2023 Venice Biennale-premiered film Tatami. She has collaborated with renowned musicians such as Matthieu Saglio, Mahsa Vahdat, Perico Sambeat, and Hadar Noiberg.
Elana holds a Master of Music in Contemporary Performance and Production from Berklee College of Music in Valencia and a BA in Design Media Arts from UCLA. She was a resident at Fabrica Research Centre in 2019 and is a member of the Iranian Female Composers Association (IFCA).
