Galeet Dardashti
As vocalist, composer, anthropologist, and producer, Galeet Dardashti has earned a reputation as a trail-blazing performer and advocate for Middle Eastern and North African Jewish culture. Dardashti is the first woman to continue her family’s tradition of distinguished Persian and Jewish musicianship.
Listed among “NY Jewish Week’s 36 to Watch” in 2024, Dardashti is widely known as leader/founder of the renowned all-woman powerhouse Sephardi/Mizrahi Jewish ensemble, Divahn. According to the Jerusalem Report, Dardashti’s “sultry delivery spans international styles and clings to listeners long after the last round of applause.” Dardashti’s nationally acclaimed release, The Naming, musically interprets some of the compelling women of the Bible. Time Out New York described The Naming as “urgent, heartfelt and hypnotic;” The Huffington Post called it “heart-stopping.”
Monajat is Galeet Dardashti’s powerful & award-winning (Global Music Award) album of original compositions featuring her singing with remixed samples of her grandfather, Younes Dardashti (AKA, The Nightingale of Iran)—one of Iran’s most famous singers in the 1950s and 60s and a devout Jew. In this live concert, Galeet reinvents the ritual of Selihot, with a soundscape of original music performed with an acclaimed ensemble of Middle Eastern and jazz musicians, and vivid video art enveloping the audience. At this very fraught time in the Middle East, the project reminds us of generations of shared culture between Jews and Muslims.
In The Nightingale of Iran — the 2024 hit audio documentary series Dardashti co-created and co-produced with her sister, Danielle Dardashti, the sisters explore their family history — including the story of their Iranian grandfather, known as “The Nightingale of Iran.” Their journey reveals painful secrets unspoken for generations. The podcast has become a global hit— still at the top of the Apple podcast charts for months, has already won multiple awards including Quill’s “Best Podcast of the Year” and “Best Society and Culture Podcast,” and Danielle and Galeet were selected to participate in the 2024 Tribeca Creators Market.
Dardashti also has over two decades of cantorial experience with varied communities. This past year she lead High Holidays with Kanisse in Manhattan—one of the first egalitarian Sephardi/Mizrahi communities in the country.
As a scholar, Dardashti holds a Ph.D. in anthropology and specializes in Mizrahi culture and music; her current book project explores the Mizrahi piyyut (sacred song) phenomenon in contemporary Israel. She has held Assistant Professor positions at New York University and the Jewish Theological Seminary. Dardashti is currently a Fellow at University of Pennsylvania’s Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies. Dardashti offers scholar/artist-in-residencies, lectures, and workshops on her academic and artistic work throughout North America and beyond.