Sussan Deyhim (born December 14, 1958) is an Iranian American composer, vocalist, performance artist and activist. She is internationally known for her invention of a unique sonic/vocal language. LA Times quotes her as "One of Iran's most potent voices in exile". Early life Sussan Deyhim was born into a liberal Iranian family on December 14, 1958, in Tehran, Iran. She was the youngest of eleven children and her house was filled with every conceivable style of music, old and new. Growing up, Deyhim spent her summers at a special dance and arts camp at the Caspian Sea and at the Shirazz Festival. At the age of 13, she joined the Iranian National Ballet Company and was offered a scholarship to attend School of Performing Arts in Brussels. Deyhim won coveted admission into the Bejart Ballet in 1976 and moved to New York (1980) to pursue music. Her music remains true to the spirit of her ancient heritage while pointing to the future with a very personal and poetic dramatic sensibility. In her own words, Deyhim said "I had been trained to do unusual vocals and I started doing choreography and composing music myself, using my voice as my instrument. Gradually I started getting very excited about music. My apartment was in the Village and I got into the downtown music and arts scene. I wanted to do something cool and an interesting hybrid relevant to our times." Career and Musical style Deyhim's music combines extended vocal techniques, digital processing, and the ancient mysticism of Middle Eastern music to create a deeply moving fusion of East and West. Her artistic career began in 1971, at age thirteen dancing with Iran's Pars National Ballet company (performing weekly on Iranian national television). During that time Deyhim traveled all across Iran to study with master folk musicians and dancers; in 1976, she joined Maurice Béjart's prestigious Béjart Ballet in Europe, after receiving a scholarship to attend the famed choreographer's performance-art school, Mudra. There she was trained in many of the great world, dance, music, theater traditions as well as in classical ballet. Leaving Tehran in 1980, Deyhim moved to New York embarking on a multifaceted career encompassing music, theatre, dance, media and wide-ranging collaborations with leading artists from across the spectrum of contemporary art like, Ornette Coleman, Bobby McFerrin, Peter Gabriel, and Rufus Wainwright, Richard Horowitz and with prominent female visual artists Shirin Neshat,