About
Saxophonist, composer, and educator, Ardeshir Pourkeramati draws inspiration from a wide variety of music. Based in Vancouver, Canada, his versatility has driven him to play with various musical groups of different genres. He has worked with bands such as the Vancouver Legacy Jazz Orchestra, Michael Kim’s West Coast Big Band, Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra, The Supersonic Hearts Band, Coco Jafro, Los Duendes, Orquesta Tabasko, and Lambsbreath. Ardeshir also leads his own group, where they play some of his original music.
Besides performing, Ardeshir also plays a role as an educator. He has experience teaching privately as well as in classroom settings, from beginning to university level. He has a passion for exploring different teaching methods, especially in the jazz and improvisational idioms.
Before pursuing his master’s degree, Ardeshir studied with legendary saxophonist and educator Stan Karp, while attending Capilano University’s jazz studies program, where he also studied with Western Canadian stars Brad Turner, Steve Kaldestad, Jared Burrows, and Bill Coon. Ardeshir also played in the university's premier big band, who shared the stage with many guest artists including the Grammy award winning Maria Schneider, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Donny McCaslin. He was one of nine members of the 2017 Ottawa Jazz Youth Summit, who performed as a part of the jazz festival, as well as Canada's 150th celebrations. During his graduate studies at University of Oregon, Ardeshir was a part of the school’s honors “JazzArts” combo, led by Paul Krueger. He was also a member of Steve Owen’s “Oregon Jazz Ensemble”, where he got to work with the Grammy award winning guest artist Sean Jones. As a graduate-employee, Ardeshir has worked as a combo instructor, private saxophone instructor, as well as a history teacher assistant.