Jamshied Sharifi (born October 17, 1960) is a Tony Award-winning American composer, conductor, musician, and record producer.
From 1985–1992, under Sharifi's direction and leadership, the group recorded two CDs, performed twenty of his compositions, and won the prestigious Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival in 1991.
Notably, Sharifi holds the synthesizer to an 'acoustic' standard and aims to play it with the detail and richness of articulation that comes naturally to an acoustic instrumentalist.
These records reflect my ongoing love for and exploration of music outside of what we think of as Western music.” For Dream Theater's album Octavarium, he arranged and conducted for various orchestra instruments, including strings and horns.
On April 1, 2006, he conducted the orchestra for the Dream Theater 20th Anniversary World Tour performance at Radio City Music Hall in NYC.
Three of Sharifi's songs – "The Complicated Man", "UFO Get-Go" and "Back Porch" – appeared in the film The Thomas Crown Affair.
[3] For MIT's 2020 virtual commencement ceremony, Sharifi's "To the Light, To the Flame" was recorded by dozens of musicians from remote locations during quarantine.