Iranian virtuoso Sohrab Pournazeri was born in the province of Kermanshah, mainly populated by Kurds. After learning Iranian folk and classical music from his father, a renowned tambûr (long-necked lute) player, Sohrab Pournarezi joined the Shams Ensemble group at the age of fifteen. He went on to perform around the world with Shams Ensemble and in duo with his brother Tahmoures Pournazeri. A kamânche and tambûr player, Sohrab Pournazeri is also a composer and arranger. He combined all his talents in 2013 for the collaborative project Nishtiman, Kurdistan, which symbolically unites the music of Kurdistan, split between Iran, Turkey, Iraq and Syria.