The Shanbehzadeh Ensemble () is an Iranian folk band, formed in Bushehr in 1990. The band offers a rare aspect of the traditional music and dance of the Persian Gulf, more specially of the province of Bushehr, south of Iran and bordering Persian gulf. The principal instruments of the ensemble are the (bagpipe), (flute), (drum), (percussion), traditional flute, (cymbal) and (a goat’s horn). The ensemble has performed in front of audiences in Iran, Europe and North America. History The band was founded by internationally acclaimed Iranian musician and dancer, Saeed Shanbezadeh in 1990. Saied, who traces his ancestry to Zanzibar in East Africa, was born in Bushehr, Iran, where he started playing music at the age of 7 with the old masters of the music of the region. He began with percussions, singing, and traditional dance. At 20 he founded the group of Shanbehzadeh Ensemble and won the 1st prize at the Fajr Music Festival in Tehran in 1990. In 1996 he was invited by the University of Toronto to teach a half-a-year course. In 2007 he was invited again by La Cité de La Musique of Paris to teach dance, singing and music. In 1998 he was named the professor and director of the House of Culture, Music and Dance of the Isle of Kish in Iran. That same year he portrayed himself in Talking with the Wind by Bahram Beyzaei. Saeed Shanbehzadeh left Iran in 2002 and now lives in Paris. Band members Current members Saeid Shanbehzadeh – neyanbān, neydjofti, dammām Naghib Shanbehzadeh - tombak, zarbetempo Saeid Shanbehzadeh : Composer Saeed Shanbezadeh began playing music at the age of seven in his native town of Boushehr in southern Iran with old music masters from the area and according to the local oral traditions. He first learned percussion and singing, then Neyanban (bagpipe), Neyjofti (double flute) and traditional dances. At the age of twenty he created his own traditional music group, the Zâr Ensemble (before called Shanbezadeh's Ensemble) which won the first prize at the Fajr Festival in Tehran in 1990. At the same time he also began to conduct research and write about southern Iranian music in Iranian periodicals. His research on the ethnomusicology of the region led him to collect many different types of local music and create sound archives for this music. As a result of his research and his concerts he is now a nationally