Hafez Modirzadeh

Hafez Modirzadeh serves as a Professor at San Francisco State University, specializing in creative and cross-cultural music within the Creative/World Music program. Based in the Creative Arts Building (Room 143), he holds a Ph.D. (1992) and maintains active office hours Tuesdays 2:00-3:00 p.m. and Fridays 1:00-3:00 p.m.

His research focuses on Chromodal Theory and jazz-ethnomusicology intersections, with publications spanning Black Music Research, Leonardo, Critical Studies in Improvisation, and Popular Music Studies. This work explores improvisational frameworks across global musical traditions.

Notable recognitions include:

• NEA Jazz Scholar
• Senior Fulbright Scholar
• Grammy nomination for saxophone recordings on Pi Recordings

He has secured composition grants from MAPfund and Copeland foundations, with prior faculty appointments at BANFF Centre (Canada) and California Jazz Conservatory. His ongoing projects examine modal systems in jazz through cross-cultural lenses.