Sahba Motallebi is an Iranian musician and composer associated with tar, setar, Persian music and world music. Born in Tehran in 1978, she begins playing traditional Persian music at an early age.

She studies at the Tehran Conservatory, where she learns tar and setar under Fariborz Azizi. Her training continues with guidance from Hossein Alizadeh and the music theorist Dr Mehran Rouhani. She also studies composition at the St Petersburg Conservatory in Russia and takes part in comparative study of Persian and Turkish music at R.G.S University in Turkey.

Motallebi is recognised as the best tar player at the Iranian Music Festival for four consecutive years, from 1995 to 1998. In 2000 she joins the Iranian National Orchestra and then travels internationally to present Persian music. She records several CDs, composes a number of theatrical pieces, and lives in Southern California, where she teaches tar and setar.