Shamss Ensemble
The Shamss Ensemble was founded in Iran in 1980.
Reclaiming melodies from past millennia, reviving the traditional instrument Tanboor, discovering the secrets of Iranian mystical music.
- Creating a whole new style in Iranian music by blending passion, emotion, spirituality,
and performance, and the most advanced techniques of composition and performance: these are the hallmarks of the Pournazeri family and the Shamss Ensemble.
The Shamss Ensemble was founded in Iran in 1980, by Kaykhosro Pournazeri – a musicologist who retrieved the spiritual instrument Tanbour from the heart of the Sufi monasteries and introduced it to the worldstage.
Pournazeri was the first to compose based on the music of the Tanbour, and combined it with the poetry of Rumi and the other traditional Sufi instrument, Daf. Through the presentation of these pieces the Shamss Ensemble was introduced as the premiere source for composition and performance of Iranian spiritual music and of the Tanbour.
As Kaykhosro’s sons Tahmoures and Sohrab Pournazeri joined the Shamss Ensemble, they also began composing and designing new music founded on their father’s style and incorporating the musical traditions of various nations.
This has resulted in the birth of one of the most interesting and attractive new forms of Iranian music – to the point that after thirty years, the Shamss Ensemble has been able to not only retain its fan base but also continually gain new enthusiasts among Iranian youth.
In addition to their focus on performing Iranian music, the Pournazeris and the Shamss Ensemble have been active supporters of other artists. Following the ban on female musicians (after the Islamic revolution of 1978), they have put great effort into returning women to the musical stage. As points of pride, they have nurtured the first female Tanbour players, and after ten years of striving were able to utilize two female vocalists in their work despite the ban on the solo female voice.
In addition, Kaykhosro Pournazeri can be counted as the foremost supporter of young performers on the modern Iranian music scene – a fact that has become his personal doctrine and must be considered one of the band’s great strengths.
Currently the Shamss Ensemble and the Pournazeris present their musical activities in several forms: - Spiritual music, performed primarily by the Tanbour group
- Iranian folk music
- Kurdish music as performed by traditional instruments
- Collaboration with Symphonic Orchestras
- Fusion music in combination with the music and musicians of other nations
Shamss Members
Kaykhosro Pournazeri
Musician
He is the first to compose based on the music of the Tanbour, and combined it with the poetry of Rumi and the other traditional Sufi instrument, the Daf.
Tahmoures Pournazeri
Musician
He is a musician and composer whose creativity and inventiveness have marked him as a distinguished artist of his generation.
Sohrab Pournazeri
Musician
He is a virtuoso of the Tanbour and the Kamancheh and a sensational phenomenon of modern Iranian music.
Performance History
2020
Shamss Ensemble & Homayoun Shajarian – Paris, France
Accompanied by his brilliant heirs Sohrab and Tahmoures, Kaykhosro Pournazeri is joined by Homayoun Shajarian, the most celebrated singer of the new generation. An eminently poetic evening, under the sign of transmission.
2020
Shamss Ensemble – Brussels, Belgium
Accompanied by his brilliant heirs Sohrab and Tahmoures, Kaykhosro Pournazeri is joined by Homayoun Shajarian, the most celebrated singer of the new generation. An eminently poetic evening, under the sign of transmission.
2018
Konya Mystic Music Festival
Accompanied by Shams ensemble and Pournazeri brothers, Shajarian staged the concert in the 15th Konya Mystic Music Festival and performed tracks composed by Kaykhosro Pournazeri.
2018
Istanbul International Folk Music Festival
At this concert Shajarian was accompanied by Tahmoures and Sohrab Pournazeri whose creativity and inventiveness have marked them as distinguished artists of their generation.