SHIREEN AMINI (non-binary using she/her pronouns in English and elle pronouns in Spanish) is an Oregon-based singer-songwriter who blends pop, rock, latin, and roots music with socially-conscious themes. Imagine Michael Franti meets Gloria Estefan. She has had the honor of opening for Sheila E. and Collin Hay and, with her Latin band ¡Chiringa!, Ozomatli and the Gipsy Kings. In 2019, Shireen became connected to other artist-activists through the worldwide revival of community singing and, in 2020, had the notable opportunity to be a guest song leader for Maggie Wheeler’s (Janice from the sitcom “Friends”) international virtual song gathering, “Together in Song.”

As a queer, second-generation, Puerto Rican-Iranian-American raised in a suburb of San Francisco, Shireen found solace and eventually transformation in songwriting, which inspired her to study Ethnomusicology at UCLA. During a life-changing semester abroad in Perú she learned how to play the Afro-Peruvian cajón, which established percussion and groove as an essential part of her sound. Soon after, she relocated to Central Oregon to live in close community and closer to nature. Here, she came into her own both as a performer and queer person. Shireen has completed a certificate program in Sound, Voice, and Music Healing from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, solidifying her belief in the healing power of music. She recently released a solo album called “Break Myself Free,” a proud proclamation of her queer identity and an invitation into deeper connection with the Earth. Its title track recently won the Hope Rises II songwriting contest, selected to be among 16 others by artists nationwide on this album compilation for social change.