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Shirzad Sharif - Tonbak/Daf (Persian Percussion)

Shirzad studied the Tonbak under the supervision of Ostad Bahman Rajabi in Iran. Since then he has adapted his own unique style of playing enabling him to play melodic rythyms on the Tonbak while accomponying various instruments, (Melody-Navazy).

His skillful presentation and comprehensive teaching technique has lead to him performing and conducting seminars at prestigious institutions such as the University of Maryland, University of Utah, UCSF, San Francisco State University UCLA.

Shirzad is also the first Tonbak player to have researched & performed other Middle Eastern, Arabic & non-Persian techniques, rhythms & compositions on the Tonbak, accompanying instruments such as the Riqq, Mazhar, Darabuka and Indian Tablas while preserving the unique technique and sounds distinctive to the Persian Tonbak.

He has composed and performed many percussive compositions using Arabic, Persian and Indian drums thus connecting and creating a triangle within the three ancient regions of Persia, India the Middle East. He is also the founder of Som'ma and pioneer of a new sound he refers to as Avant-Garde Persian music, a new and exciting sound that has its roots in Persian classical music and abstract Avant-Garde ideas.

Dr. Lloyd Miller - Pirano/Clarinet (Jazz Master)

Dr. Miller also known to many Persians as Koroush Ali Khan is one of the first jazz innovators who was interested in Eastern music since the 50's but did not gain fame because he left the scene in 1959 to travel through the orient and to live in Tehran. Before going on to Europe, Dr. Miller was working on Eastern music and finding ways to bring metaphysical and highly developed Eastern concepts into modal jazz.

While in Europe Miller played with top jazz artists like Don Ellis (where he was inspired by Miller's Eastern concepts) and Eddie Harris including occasional appearances at the famous Blue Note in Paris where he sat in for Bud Powel to play with Kenny Clark. During his residence in Europe, Miller was prominent in the Stockholm. Frankfurt, Brussels and Paris jazz scenes and played at two major jazz festivals in Belgium.

Miller's LP album Oriental Jazz released in the late 60's and the three consecutive years he won composer and other trophies at Intercollegiate Jazz Festivals indicate that he was one of first to bring Eastern music ideas to Jazz.

Dr. Miller has always endeavored to retain the highest musical standards of both systems and has refrained from sacrificing either or producing a commercialized blend.

Dr. Miller has spent 8 years in Iran where he recieved his PhD in Persian music which resulted in his work Music and Song in Persia being published by Curzon Press in London in 1999, he also studied with master Daryush Safvat and Karimi and also hosted his own prime-time NIRTV main network jazz show while in Tehran.

For more information please visit http://www.jazzscope.com/VAM.html
Leila Sadeghi - Middle Eastern Dance

Leila Sadeghi is a Middle Eastern dancer specializing in Persian and belly dancing. Her unique style is a fusion of Persian traditional, belly dance, and more contemporary modern movements. Born in the Bay Area to Swiss and Iranian immigrant parents, she started dancing as a child. At an early age she started learning ballet, jazz and even tap dancing. While visiting relatives in Tehran, Iran she was exposed to "Tehrani" style Persian dance movements which sparked her interest in Middle Eastern dances.

During a long stay in Tehran she continued studying Persian dance as well as "Arabi" (belly dance) which was also taught in the schools she attended. The daunting movements and fast finger cymbals of belly dancing fascinated her and while in the United States Leila continued studying belly dance at the University of California at Santa Barbara. She has been dancing professionally and loving it ever since. Leila Sadeghi has also performed with Irina Mikhailova, Star Sounds Orchestra, Lumin, and Luna Groove.
Dr. Alan Kushan - Santur

Alan Kushan is one of the most accomplished santur players in the world of music. He is recognized for his unrivaled technique, elegant musicianship and innovative creativity as a composer of avant-guard soundscapes.

Alan has been invited to give numerous seminars and master classes throughout Europe and North America. He has performed at music festivals, on radio and television bringing the ancient and hauntingly spiritual sound of the Santur to new audiences across the world.

He has a keen interest in the musical traditions of all cultures. Prior to his relocation in the U.S., he held the position of instructor of classical Persian music at the University of Toronto. He is the featured solo artist on several albums including Pegah (XDOT25 1006-2), Within the Galaxies, Planes of the Similitude's, Arctic Soul (XDOT25 1014-2), and East to East (XDOT25 1015-2). Please visit Alan's site at www.alankushan.com

For over fifteen years, Alan has maintained an active involvement performing and composing for theatrical and cinematic productions. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his accomplishments including the 1991 Genie Award for "Best Short Film", and a nomination in 1993 for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for "Best Musical Score for Theatrical Production". Alan was recently honored as Associate Composer at the Canadian Music Center.

Noah Waldman - Drumset / Percussion

Noah a graduate of Boston's Berklee College of Music plays with some of the best musicians in the area. It was at Berklee that he was exposed to different types of music such as Afro-Cuban, Jazz, Middle Eastern, Indian and the music of the African Diaspora.

He was privledged to study under the direction of the late Tony Williams and other greats like Kenwood Dennard, Bobby Sanabria, Ernesto Diaz, Wayne Nauss, Ed Uribe, Oscar Stagnardo, Bernardo Hernandez and Jamey Haddad.

Noah has additionaly performed with greats like Rebecca Muleon, Orestes Vilato, Larry Harlow, Edgardo Cambon, Oscar Stagnardo, Ed Kelly, Danilo Lazano....

Pourya Khademi - Violin

Pourya Khademi was born to a widely recognized master of traditional Iranian violin Alireza Khademi which began teaching Pourya at a really early age. Due to the post-revolution political turmoil, the family fled to Germany where they spent the next eight years. In fact, music became one of the most important elements in the family’s struggle to maintain their Iranian heritage. Father and son continue to work together and have performed at many widely publicized concerts and events including the Los Angeles debut of the legendary Iranian singer Marzieh. In 1994 the family moved to the US, where Pourya continued his musical studies, obtaining a B.A. in violin and vocal performance with a minor in composition.

Over the years, Pourya has developed his own style of performance by bringing together classical techniques with traditional Iranian music. Currently he is working toward his second degree at the University of California, Berkeley.
Jeffery Stott - G3 Laptop electronics

Producer, performer and composer, Jeffery Stott, has been deftly merging the worlds of modern electronic music production and Middle Eastern traditional musics for over a decade. He has studied rural and classical forms with master musicians from Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, and Turkey. These teachers have led him to become accomplished on several traditional Middle Eastern instruments including oud, baglama, yali tambur, and santoor, as well as the full range of percussion instruments of the Middle East. Equally at home in the digital realm, Jeffery contributes much of the programming and production found on the LUMIN albums and live performances. In addition to releasing three full length critically acclaimed CD's Hadra, Datura, and Star of the Sea by STELLAMARA, he has produced international music remixes by Turkish and Persian artists for Universal Records and EMI Europe, as well as composed for film, modern dance and theatrical productions. Visit Jeff's website www.jefstott.com He has performed at festivals and concerts in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Edinburgh, London, and Mexico.
Amir Koushkani - Tar

Born in Tehran, Amir was introduced to classical Persian music at home. At thirteen, he began formal training in the art of playing Tar and Setar at the National Iranian Radio and Television's Center for Preservation and Propagation of National Music. He studied under the guidance and supervision of Master Darioush Peerniakhan. At nineteen, Amir became an instructor of Tar at the Center, and subsequently continued to explore his passion for Persian music through composition and improvisation.

Amir has worked extensively on Persian 'Radif' (stylization of music) over the last 13 years, and has mastered the classical approaches to performing and studying Radif. In 1991, he emigrated to Canada and since then has given over 60 performances in Canada, the U.S.and Europe, including the WOMAD Festival in Toronto (1991), the Sufi Music Village Festival in London, UK (1997), Comox Festival and Vancouver Folk Festival (1999). He created and performed the music for two plays on Sufi themes, Quest (1996) and Love (1997), for both of which he was nominated for a Jesse Richardson award. Visit Amir's website at www.koushkani.com
Mark Deutsch - Bazantar

Mark is a visionary artist with a background in non-linear mathematics, sacred systems and cosmology. As a classically trained bassist whilst studying sitar and North Indian classical music with the legendary Ustad Imrat Khan developed a breaking new instrument: The Bazantar - a five-string acoustic bass fitted with an additional twenty-nine sympathetic strings and four drone strings. The result is a remarkable instrument that weaves a mesmerizing soundscape of resonance, and evokes all the power of Western classical music with the depth and nuance of Eastern traditions. Since the creation of the Bazantar, Mark has been performing extensively world wide, performing at the Juilliard School of Music and at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. On the collaborative side, his music has attracted an eclectic array of musicians, including the Grammy award-winning cellist David Darling; the seminal Chicago rock band Tortoise; virtuoso erhu player and principle soloist with the Beijing National Symphony Yang Ying; and jazz luminaries such as William Parker, Roy Campbell, and Hamid Drake. For more information on Mark the Bazantar visit: www.bazantar.com
Mary Ellen Donald - Middle Eastern Percussion

Mary Ellen Donald is a nationaly acclaimed performer and instructor of Middle Eastern percussion. Her musical accomplishments are even more so noteworthy because she is blind. She plays her drums and lives her life with joy in her heart.

Mary Ellen has taught workshops and performed with Middle Eastern bands in most of the major cities throughout the US. For over twenty-five years she has maintained a large student body in the San Francisco Bay Area. Please visit her site  here!
John Connell - Ney & Daf

John Connell has always been involved in creative endeavors such as music, art, and theatre. Realizing five years ago that he had spent a past life in Iran, John decided to submerge himself in the subtleties of Persian music and culture.

He studied ney, daf and tonbak for many years with Mohammad S. Nejad. John has been fortunate to perform with prominent Persian musicians on many occasions, as well as with Bay Area Persian/Central Asian dance company Ballet Afsaneh.

Currently John performs traditional folk and classical music from Iran and Afghanistan on ney with Armando (Uncle Mafufo) in Santa Cruz, CA.
Ramin Zoufonoun - Persian Tuned Piano

Ramin was born to a family of musicians in Tehran. His strength and primary interest is in the area of improvisation on the Persian-tuned piano, and the tar. He owes much of his knowledge of Persian modal system (radif) to his father and mentor, Mahmoud Zoufonoun. He studied tar with Mahmoud Zoufonoun, Hossein Alizadeh and Mohammad Reza Lotfi. Ramin has studied music theory and harmony with Anna Pokleswski and has also explored possibilities within the realm of electronic music.

Ramin has been performing in numerous cities across the United States as a soloist and as a member of traditional Iranian and cross-cultural ensembles. He also appears on several recordings and frequently shares his knowledge and experience as a guest lecturer/ performer at various educational institutions.
Kousic Sen - Tabla

Tabla artist Kousic Sen, a child prodigy, was initiated in Tabla playing by Professor Biswanath Bose of the Benares Gharana and later became a disciple of the Tabla wizard Pandit Kumar Bose. Kousic is an accomplished soloist and accompanist, and has performed with many luminaries of Indian dance and music and world music. Over the last decade Kousic has been performing in all the major festivals in India, UK, Europe, Canada and USA.
Jaron Lanier - World Instruments

Jaron Lanier is a computer scientist, composer, visual artist, and author. Currently, Lanier serves as the Lead Scientist of the National Tele-immersion Initiative, a coalition of research universities studying advanced applications for Internet 2. Lanier is probably best known for his work in Virtual Reality. He coined the term 'Virtual Reality' and in the early 1980s founded VPL Research, the first company to sell VR products.

As a musician, Lanier has been active in the world of new "classical" music since the late seventies. He is a pianist and a specialist in unusual musical instruments, especially the wind and string instruments of Asia. He maintains one of the largest and most varied collections of actively played instruments in the world. Lanier has performed with artists as diverse as Philip Glass, Ornette Coleman, George Clinton, Vernon Reid, Terry Riley, Duncan Sheik, Pauline Oliveros, and Stanley Jordan. Current recording projects include his "acoustic techno" duet with Sean Lennon and an album of duets with flautist Robert Dick.He also writes chamber and orchestral music. Recent commissions include: A concert length sequence of works for orchestra and virtual worlds (including "Canons for Wroclaw", "Khaenoncerto", "The Egg", and others) celebrating the 1000th birthday of the city of Wroclaw, Poland, premiered in 2000; A triple concerto, "The Navigator Tree", commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Composers Forum, premiered in 2000; and "Mirror/Storm", a symphony commissioned by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and premiered in 1998. Continental Harmony, a PBS special that documented the development and premiere of The Navigator Tree won a CINE Golden Eagle Award. His CD "Instruments of Change" was released on Point/Polygram in 1994For more info on Jaron please visit: http://www.well.com/user/jaron/general.html
Mahour Mellat Parast - Tar

Mahour Mellat Parast was born in 1973 in Iran. He grew up in a music loving family, where his father was a musician, composer and a player of Tar, Setar, Piano and Turkish Tar. He started playing Tar at the age of 14, under the supervision of his father and in 1989, he was awarded the first rank Tar player in the Province of Gilan, Iran. Mahour also joined the Oshagh musical group at the age of 16, as their youngest player and took part in many concerts with that group throughout Iran. After his admission to Sharif University, he moved to Tahran.

At that time, along with his academic studies in Industrial Engineering, he practiced the themes of Persian music (RADIF) under the supervision of Houshang Zarif, a renowned Tar player and instructor, from 1993-1997. He also became familiar with the style of many Tar players, including Jalil Shahnaz and Farhang Sharif. Visit Mahour's website!
  Other people who have collaborated with Som'ma
Pandit Habib Khan is regarded as one of the best sitar players in the world today. He was born into a family of musicians and can trace his lineage back several generations. He began his training at the tender age of five under the strict eye of his accomplished father, Ustad Hameed Jaffar Khan. Habib Khan has carved out a distinct style of his own which is a blend of his father's traditional techniques and his own imaginative innovations. Habib Khan lives and teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area and performs all over the world. Visit his website here.
Stephan Junca self-taught on the drum set, has been playing drums and percussion for over 20 years, in almost every style from rock, jazz, fusion and country to afro-Cuban, reggae and various world beat. Over the last 10 years he's seriously expanded his hand percussion repertoire, playing African, Middle Eastern and Cuban/Latin styles and rhythms on djembe, conga and bongo, dumbek and various frame drums, udu and a wide assortment of percussion items from many cultures.Stephan also has extensive work with keyboard programming, writing and arrangement. He's been involved in a number of solo projects, including a nature recording soundtrack, meditation accompaniment tapes and psychoactive light and sound programs. His work has been featured on more than a dozen releases. Visit the Azigza website.