Sepidah Moafi has had one impressive journey to land in Pittsburgh (dramatically speaking).

Currently making waves for her performance in HBO's The Pitt, the 2007 Voice graduate—aside from exemplifying the kind of "multihyphenate" artist SFCM strives to educate—is also an example of the breadth of backgrounds students bring to the Conservatory. The gritty hospital drama, set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has picked up five Emmys and two Golden Globes and was recently renewed for a third season.

Sepideh Moafi in 'The Deuce' (Courtesy HBO).

Moafi was born in Germany as a refugee after her family fled Iran in the aftermath of the 1979 Revolution; they eventually were granted visas and settled in the Bay Area. ("It was a rough neighborhood when I was growing up but we used my aunt’s address so we could get into a different school district," she said in 2022.)

Moafi, 40, has said that she was bullied as a child in school, and it took until her sophomore year in high school to discover her talent for singing, which came in a roundabout way after she joined her school's choir to "knock out some fine arts credits." She went on to describe that working on one of Antonio Vivaldi's settings of the hymn "Gloria in excelsis Deo" was the moment she was "bitten by the bug and became obsessed with music and singing."

"It was my primary healing modality," Moafi reflected. "I didn’t know what it was, I just knew I felt a deep sense of depression and like I had never belonged. When I found music it felt like everything fell away and there was only this thing that mattered."

Moafi earned a full scholarship to SFCM and studied primarily with Jane Randolph, who has since retired from the Conservatory. Faculty members Cathy Cook (Frederica Von Stade Distinguished Chair, Voice) and Heather Mathews (Director of Opera and Musical Theatre; Chair of Opera and Musical Theatre Program and Opera Studies) both recall her turn as Susanna in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

"Sepi's drive and natural charisma made her a true joy to collaborate with," Mathews recalls. "Early on, we recognized an artist with a clear and exciting path on the stage and beyond." Cook adds that she was similarly struck: "Her Susanna was absolutely gorgeous, and it was clear that she was a beautiful singer and actress. She made the role seem effortless in every way. I am beyond thrilled at her success!"

Sepideh Moafi in 'The L Word: Generation Q' (Courtesy Showtime).

After graduating from SFCM, Moafi pursued acting, debuting in Blue Bloods in 2012 and working her way up to The Pitt after getting increased visibility on other "prestige TV" dramas like HBO's The Deuce and Showtime's The L Word sequel series Generation Q. Of the latter, she recalled, "I was at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music [when the original show aired], and I remember one of my classmates, who was also a vocal performance major, turned me on to the show. At that time in my life, I don't think I had ever—maybe besides Friends—watched an entire series through, so I had seen episodes here and there and we'd watch together."

Moafi expanded on her time at SFCM in an interview with 1883 Magazine: "[At SFCM] a lot of people in my class had been studying instruments or voice or composition since they were four or five years old. I started when I was almost 16 years old. I had no musicianship skills. I was in the pre-musicianship class and within six months, I was in the advanced musicianship class because I was addicted to it. My teachers would pull me aside and tell me to give myself a break [laughs]."

Moafi provided the following advice to people following her path: "I spent a lot of time wondering why things were happening the way they were and making excuses for myself and for other people. I've learned to just let go of all of that and always just look for the lesson. If you actually look, it’s there."

Also an activist for the International Rescue Committee, Moafi's path to SFCM and beyond makes her the definition of the kind of "fully engaged citizen of the world" the Conservatory educates. And as Cook says, she makes it look effortless.

Learn more about studying Voice at SFCM.