Pouria Pournazeri

Pouria Pournazeri (born 1982) is an Iranian musician and composer who grew up in an artistic family; his mother was a teacher and his father made Iranian instruments. His bond with music took shape in early childhood: at six he took his first tanbur lessons from his father, and at ten he went on to study the setar (a small long-necked lute) with Afshin Ramin.

His talent soon became apparent: in 1997 he won third place in the regional music section of the Youth Music Festival. He perfected his tanbur studies with his uncle, Master Keykhosrow Pournazeri, and in 1998 he became a member and leader of the Shams Ensemble for two years – a collaboration that led to his appearance on the album Mastan Salamat Mikonand (“The Enraptured Greet You”) and to numerous concerts with the ensemble.

Pournazeri was never content with merely playing and always sought to let his creativity flourish in the field of composition. From 1999 he turned to research into folk music and developed new ideas along this path. His artistic curiosity drew him into other fields as well: in 2000 he joined the rock band Public Voice, learned percussion and the drum kit, and for five years, as a member of the band, took part in concerts in Tehran, Rasht and Isfahan and in the album Escape from Darkness.

Heir to Kurdish traditions

Pournazeri’s scholarly outlook and Kurdish roots bore fruit in his first independent album, Zhur, a work that weaves elements of folk music together with the language of the tanbur. He began working on the album in 2006, and in 2010 it was finally released by Hermes Records. Zhur met with a remarkable response, and the respected magazine Songlines chose it as one of its top albums.

In 2009, together with his students and a number of players of Iranian and non-Iranian instruments, Pournazeri founded the Rivaan Ensemble to present his distinctive style in live performances and on albums such as Rivaan and Let’s Make the Earth Peaceful.

Today he teaches tanbur, setar and daf (frame drum) in Montreal and performs both as a soloist and with ensembles. His most recent collaboration is his appearance on the album Sufi-Yogi by the group of the same name.