PhD, Wesleyan University (1992), for his original “chromodal” approach to jazz. Since 1998, Professor of World Cultures Program at SF State’s School of Music and Dance. 1989, ‘91 NEA Jazz Fellow, and 2006 Fulbright Senior Lecturer to work with Gnawan and Flamenco musicians in Morocco and Andalucia. An international performing/recording artist and educator, Modirzadeh has worked with Don Cherry and Peter Apfelbaum’s Hieroglyphics Ensemble, Ornette Coleman, John Handy, Zakir Hussein and Mark Izu’s Circle of Fire, Steve Lacy and Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra, Oliver Lake, James Newton, Leo Smith, Omar Sosa, and many Asian and Asian American artists including Fred Ho, Danongan Kalanduyan, Akira Tana, Kenny Endo, Francis Wong and Asian Improv Arts.