Saideh Eftekhari is a multi-instrumentalist (violin, setar, voice) performing and teaching artist based in San Francisco. Her work is inspired by the years she spent studying and living in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. She is trained in classical violin as well as the Persian setar and holds a certification in Sound Healing from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Since first offering lessons many years ago while in high school, Saideh delights in helping her students best express their unique voices as they develop their skill and confidence. Her students rage in age from 4 to 18 and many are in local Bay Area youth orchestras and jazz and folkloric ensembles. Saideh has also established after-school group music enrichment programs at the French American International School of San Francisco and Cielito Lindo Montessori. She is fluent in Farsi, Spanish, French and English.

In additional to teaching, Saideh was awarded a 1Beat Fellowship in 2015, where she joined musicians from 17 different countries in both a residency and West Coast tour, creating collaborative, original music as a form of cultural diplomacy and educational outreach. She was also a 2016 YBCA Fellow and a 2017 Caldera Artist in Residence. Saideh’s greatest joy is helping more children spread the love of music around the world.