Aftab was born in Tehran-Iran in 1987. In 2010, she graduated from the University of Tehran with “Music Performance” with honors. and she moved to Amsterdam to study “Composing for the film” at the Conservatorium of Amsterdam. After receiving her master’s degree, in 2015, she graduated from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague where she studied composition with Martijn Padding and Yannis Kyriakides. In the same period, she studied Karnatic music with Rafael Reina at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Aftab composes music for various mediums and contexts, from concert music to film music, theater music, etc. Creating unusual combinations of vocals and mixing the different musical cultures has been and still is her inspiration in her musical journey. She has presented her music at various festivals in Europe, the United States, and Asia, working with multiple ensembles. In October 2016, she was awarded the "Tenso Young Composers Award 2016" for her piece "And the world stopped Lacking you…" for A Cappella choir. In 2017, she was commissioned by Kronos Quartet to write a piece for Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire. Since then, she has been regularly collaborating with Kronos Quartet. In February 2019 her Opera ” Turan Dokht” in collaboration with Miranda Lakerveld premiered at Holland Festival 2019. In July 2022, she released her debut album” A Thousand Butterflies” by 30 M Records. A portrait album that looks back on her 11-year journey as a composer, “A Thousand Butterflies” evokes a life that has crossed continents. It spans a range of styles and includes work for a variety of instrumental forces as well as electronics. At the moment, Aftab pursues her Ph.D. in composition at the University of Birmingham.