Kaykhosro Pournazeri born in the Iranian city of Kermanshah in 1944, started to learn music at an early age beginning with the Tar under the tutelage of his father.

Kaykhosro Pournazeri studied music at Tehran’s University College of fine arts and then went on to study ancient Iranian history and Culture for a duration of 12 years with Dadbeh. In 1972 Pournazeri began working with Iran’s ministry of culture and art as a music expert, working on the collection and restoration of Kurdish and traditional melodies. During his time he was also the director of the Kurdish Orchestra up until 1979.

Retrieving the spiritual instrument Tanbour from the heart of the Sufi monasteries and introducing it to the world stage, Kaykhosro Pournazeri founded the Shams Ensemble in 1980. 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, the Daf. Through presentation of these pieces, the Shams Ensemble was introduced as the premier source for composition and performance of Iranian spiritual music and of the Tanbour.