The Shamss Ensemble is a musical group that performs traditional Sufi and classical Iranian music with the

Tanbour The term ''Tanbur'' ( fa, تنبور, ) can refer to various long-necked string instruments originating in Mesopotamia, Southern or Central Asia. According to the '' New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', "terminology presents a comp ...

, Daf (frame drum),

Ney The ''ney'' ( fa, Ney/نی, ar, Al-Nāy/الناي), is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Persian music and Arabic music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. The ney has been played continually ...

and various other percussion instruments. The group was founded by composer

Kaykhosro Pournazeri Kaykhosro Pournazeri (born in Kermanshah, Iran; 21 June 1944) is a composer and musician who plays Tanbour. He studied music with musician Ostad Ali-Naqi Vaziri. Kaykhosro Pornazeri founded the Shamss Ensemble in 1980 and combined Tanbour with t ...

. His sons Tahmoures and

Sohrab use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Turan , death_cause = Killed in combat by his father, Rostam, with neither Rostam nor Sohrab awa ...

are also members of the group.

History

Pournazeri formed the Shamss Ensemble with a vision of bringing back the lost art of

through compositions that fused the

with other traditional classical mode instruments. He invited fellow musicians who were familiar playing such classical pieces, they eventually became a popular musical ensemble in Iran. Initially, the group performed under the name of

-e-Shams, but adding traditional and Kurdish music to their performances, they took the name of the Shamss Ensemble. The Shamss Ensemble has performed at over 300 international venues and was on tour in the United States in 2008 during the month of October.

Members

Over the years, there have been more than fifty players and singers, the majority of whom were Pournazeri's students. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, women were banned from performing solo in front of men—that includes singing or playing any instruments. Only recently, women have been included as vocalists and players of the

Albums

Live Performances

* 2020: Shamss Ensemble and

Homayoun Shajarian Homayoun Shajarian ( fa, همايون شجريان, born May 21, 1975) is an Iranian singer. He is the son of Mohammad-Reza Shajarian. Early life Shajarian was born in Tehran and is the son of Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, a grand master vocalist ...

at Theatre de la Ville,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

* 2020: Bozar Music Festival, Shamss Ensemble and

Palais des Beaux-Arts The Centre for Fine Arts (french: Palais des Beaux-Arts, nl, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten) is a multi-purpose cultural venue in Brussels, Belgium. It is often referred to as BOZAR (a homophone of ''Beaux-arts'') in French or PSK in Dutch. The b ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

* 2018: Shamss Ensemble at FEZ Music Festival, Jnan sbil,

Fes Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

* 2018: Shamss Ensemble a
Konya Mystic Music Festival
Konya, Turkey

References

External links