Iranian Band Shams Ensemble Plays US Shows to Promote Freedom

Shams Ensemble, a musical troupe that features music drawn from Persia's distant past and has become a rallying point of overseas support for the Green Revolution in Iran, begins a three-concert tour in the US starting Sept. 27 in San Francisco. Their San Francisco concert is dedicated to Amnesty International and $1 from every ticket sale will go to the organization.

The ensemble produced a song for Iran’s Green Revolution loosely translated from Farsi as “The Cry for Change,” and it became the anthem for action and involvement; the song became an underground sensation and over a million copies were distributed to Green Revolution supporters. Shams Ensemble is elated that their passionate music could empower the youth to take action for Iranian freedom.

Five members of the ensemble are coming from Iran on Sept 5th. This is their first overseas performance since the current uprising in Iran.

The ensemble, which enchanted sold-out audiences in previous tours, draws its inspiration from traditional Kurdish, Sufi and classical Iranian music and incorporates the poems of Rumi, a famed 13th Century poet and mystic. The nine-member group creates its mesmerizing music with the help of the tanbur, a traditional Kurdish lute, the daf, a framed drum, as well as Brazilian musical instruments.

Founded and directed by Kaykhosro Pournazeri, the group features his two sons, Tahmoures and Sohrab. Since Shams' inception nearly three decades ago, the group has struggled to obtain permission to perform in Iran from the country's fundamentalist Islamic authorities because of the group’s Sufi inspirations.

But after entertaining troops in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, the ensemble was able to secure permission to perform in public. However, only in recent years has Pournazeri been permitted to add women to the troupe.

Teresa Williamson, blogger for the Huffington Post and founder of TangoDiva.com, a social network that empowers women to travel the world, is thrilled to be supporting the concerts. “I’m so excited that audiences in the US have an opportunity to celebrate with Shams Ensemble. A profound shift is taking place in Iran and as global citizens we are responsible for promoting peace and fostering unity with our fellow men and women. Shams' commitment to change is evident in their partnership with Amnesty International.”

You can order tickets for the event, which will take place at Davies Symphony Hall at 7PM, here. Hurry! Last year Shams Ensemble sold San Francisco OUT!

For information on dates and venues, please visit the band's website.