Shahram Nazeri Bust

A master of Persian classical singing

Shahram Nazeri is a contemporary Iranian Kurdish tenor from Kermanshah who sings classical music. He has been accompanied by some of the masters of Iranian traditional music such as Jalil Shahnaz, Hossein Alizadeh, Jalal Zolfonoun, Parviz Meshkatian and Faramarz Payvar.

He became attracted to the mysteries of Sufism and its music and literature through the works of Mowlana Jelaladin Rumi, Sheikh Attar and others. His teachers include some of the most important exponents of Persian music, Abdollah Davami, Nourali Boroumand, and Mahmood Karimi.

Nazeri was the first vocalist to set Rumi’s poetry to Persian music thirty-five years ago. He established a tradition of Sufi music within both Persian classical music and Kurdish music, and his music was instrumental in introducing Western musical audiences to both Sufism and to the poetry of Rumi.

He has sung with the leading ensembles of Iran, Dastan, Sheyda, Aref and Kamkars group. His performances in Europe, the Middle East, and North America have been acclaimed for their poetry and virtuosity. He has numerous recordings to his credit.

The New York Times has dubbed him the “Persian Nightingale” and the Christian Science Monitor has called him “Iran’s Pavarotti”.
Shahram Nazeri has won many prizes, and awards like “Chevalier des Arts et Lettres” medal and “Ordre national du Mérite”.