Ilyas Nadjafi is a The Hague-based singer of Afghan origin who trained at Codarts, University of the Arts Rotterdam, graduating in 2017 in Dhrupad singing, the oldest genre within North Indian classical music. He went on to specialise further in the Khayal genre and is known as a versatile performer of Persian Ghazal and Sufi songs, Qawwali and Quran recitation. His style blends classical Eastern vocal techniques with contemporary fusion cross-over, and he has performed at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, on NPO Radio 4 and at venues across the Netherlands, Germany, India and Suriname.
Ilyas Nadjafi performed during the program around the presentation of the Amsterdammer of the Year 2023 at Theater DeLaMar in Amsterdam.
Focus Magazine devoted an extensive six-page report to the work of Ilyas Nadjafi.
He performed as a guest singer at Indian Raga Seasons II, a Diwali concert with Pandit Nirmalya Dey in Rotterdam.
As singer and harmonium player of the Rumi Ensemble, he performed at the Minimal Music Festival at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam.
He gave a Dhrupad concert during Matinee Mondiaal at Circus Hakim in Haarlem.
