Iranian ensemble Shams ensemble to celebrate Noruz with American orchestra

TEHRAN,Jan.4(MNA) -- The Iranian ensemble Shams will celebrate Noruz, the Iranian New Year, with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra in Orange County, USA on March 27. In collaboration with the Farhang Foundation, the orchestra will hold a musical celebration of Noruz featuring world-renowned Persian classical musicians. The ensemble will have four performances in different American cities and Sohrab Purnazeri will accompany them as the vocalist, Shams ensemble conductor Keikhosro Purnazeri mentioned in a press release. The ensemble will perform music composed by Tahmures and Sohrab Purnazeri based on Kurdish melodies and national music, and also music for the instrument tanbur, he added. “These pieces will be performed for the first time and this is also the first time that the Pacific Symphony Orchestra will have a joint performance with an Iranian ensemble,” he said. The pieces are composed for performance on Iranian as well as on classical musical instruments, he said. “Under the Rain” composed by Tahmures Purnazeri, concerto for kamancheh and orchestra by Sohrab Purnazeri, “Memory” by Tahmures Purnazeri are some of the selections which will be performed during the event. Sohrab Purnazeri will also recite poems by Rumi and Mohammadreza Shafiei Kadkani during the event. Renowned orchestra conductor Carl St.Clair will accompany the ensemble. The group creates its mesmerizing music with the help of the tanbur and percussion instruments. It was founded by composer Keikhosro Pournazeri in 1977 with a vision of bringing back the lost art of the tanbur through compositions that fused the tanbur with other traditional classical instruments. This performance is part of the Pacific Symphony's American Composers Festival 2012: Nowruz -- Celebrating Spring presented in collaboration with the Farhang Foundation.