About

Amir Mortezai is a composer of music for film and multimedia, a songwriter, pianist, and educator. He draws his inspiration from an eclectic range of genres- from classical to blues to folk to electronica and to rock and popular music. In 2018 he was the recipient of the ASCAP Henry Mancini Fellowship, having taken part in the Columbia/ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop where he scored the trailer for the Columbia Film Festival. Currently, Amir is an adjunct professor of Piano and Music Theory at Montclair State University and the County College of Morris. 

Recently, Amir worked with The Knocks and Sleigh Bells helping with arrangement and additional production for their upcoming album. He also scored a short documentary for Jungles in Paris. He’s scored numerous other short films - from drama, to animation, to horror, and documentary. His concert pieces have been performed internationally in France, Italy, Prague, and Iran and has collaborated with the JACK Quartet, Collailm Duo, the NYU Symphony, and guitarist Flavio Virzi.

Initially self-taught as a composer, he attended the EAMA Summer Music Program in Paris  where he studied counterpoint and harmony with Dr. Philip Lasser of the Juilliard School, his primary teacher. He’s also attended the highScore and CASMI composition festivals. He graduated on scholarship from NYU Steinhardt in 2016 with a Master's Degree in Theory and Composition where he studied both concert music and film scoring with Paul Chihara and took courses with Pulitzer Prize Winner Julia Wolfe. As a songwriter, he’s taken part in master classes with Roseanne Cash, Glenn Frey, and Phil Galdston. His bachelor’s degree is in Classical Piano Performance from Rutgers University. He appeared as a guest judge on the Lifetime TV show Pitchslapped! and is also the keyboardist in The Rolling Stones cover band, The Tumblin’ Rocks.