Naseer Shamma: Arab oud
Ashraf Sharif Khan: Sitar
Carlos Piñana: Flamenco guitar 
Miguel Angel Orengo: Cajón 

Naseer Shamma
Born in the city of Al-Kut in 1963, where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers flow together to the south of Baghdad, Iraq, at the age of just five Mr. Shamma discovered his calling to play the Arab oud and gave his first concert at the age of just 11. He studied for five years at the Arab Music Conservatory of Baghdad with masters such as As-Sharif Muhyi Addin, Jamil, Munir Bashir and Salman Shukr. In 1985, while still a student at the conservatory, he took part in the Arab Music Festival, held in France, where French critics gave him the nickname “The Young Ziryab” (in reference to the great musician from Al-Andalus). Just one year later, he received the prize for the best melody of the year in Iraq. Since then, Naseer Shamma has given concerts on five continents and is acknowledged around the world as one of the best Arab oud players of all time.

Naseer Shamma plays the Arab oud by combining traditional methods with his own modern, original compositions. One of his universal contributions to the Arab oud’s development has been the production of the eight-string Arab oud (instead of the traditional six strings), designed in accordance with a manuscript by the great scientist, musician and Islamic philosopher Abu Nasr Al-Farabi (a celebrated music theorist from the ninth century). This technical innovation provides different tonalities to the Arab oud, ideal for the intricate compositions written and performed by Naseer Shamma, in which love, history and pain meld together and become articulated. His musical interpretation focuses not only on the “Meditative School” of the Iraqi oud, which is based on the famous “maqams” (modals of Arab music), defining the expression of mood, inspiration and spirituality, but he is also greatly knowledgeable about the other two schools: those of Turkey and Egypt. Naseer Shamma is considered a contemporary “cultural guardian” of Arab musical heritage, and in recent years he has opened up several music schools known as the Beit al-Oud al-Arabi (The House of the Arab Oude), where he prepares his students to become Arab oud solo performers, thereby demonstrating another facet of his artistic undertakings.

The “Great Ziryab” (Baghdad 789-Cordoba, 857), instructed by the musicians of Mosul, Iraq, was a great musician in the Court of Harun al-Rashidnin, who, due to palace intrigue, was expelled from his native country and found refuge in Al-Andalus, in the lands of Cordoba, during the times of the Umayyad reign of Abd al-Rahman II. He founded the first conservatory school in Umayyad Cordoba, and his influence soon spread throughout other cities (Seville, Granada, Toledo...). The sweet sound of his songs and his ingenious compositions, passed on from generation to generation, make up his legend.

Ashraf Sharif Khan 
Born in Lahore, Pakistan in 1969, he belongs to a family of great musicians and is the son and disciple of famous sitar master Ustad Muhammad Sharif Khan Poonchwala, who belongs to the traditional school known as Poonch Gharana. Ashraf was a child prodigy, demonstrating his brilliant talent at the age of just ten years. Ashraf’s music combines an awe-inspiring technical ability and perfectionism with great musical expressiveness. The melodic beauty of his style, accentuated by rhythmic development and technical virtuoso performance, leads him to possess a unique and unmistakable style. Having been worthy of numerous international awards, his concerts have formed part of prestigious international festivals, such as the Medina Festival (Tunisia), Sugar Hall in Okinawa (Japan), Symphony Space in  Manhattan-Broadway (New York), the Opera of Cairo (Egypt), the Arabesque Festival of Montpellier (France), the Festival of the Arab World in Montreal (Canada), Oslo Mela World Festival, Fusion in Neustrelitz, Oberjazz in Hamburg (Germany) and Kharky in Tunisia. Ashraf Sharif Khan also explores musical genres such as jazz and world music, and has played with renowned international contemporary performers such as Naseer Shamma, Shabaz Hussain, Cesare Picco, Trilok Gurthu and Tina Turner. His career as a concert performer has taken place at the same time as his work as a teacher and conference speaker. He is a professor of Classical Music from South Asia at the Norwegian Music Academy of Oslo. 

“I believe that music is the perfect medium for expressing the emotions,” explains Ashraf himself. “In the music of South Asia, each work (raga) incarnates a “state,” time, season or time of day. In each performance, I attempt to find the music and the way through it to capture the feeling in my heart and share it with listeners, so that they are conveyed what I feel. When I achieve this, it seems as if the music takes on a life of its own, encouraging both me and the audience.”

Carlos Piñana Conesa
Born in Cartagena in 1976, he belongs to a family with a long-standing tradition in flamenco. The grandson of the patriarch of mining songs, Antonio Piñana (father), and son of the guitarist Antonio Piñana (junior), who was his first master, from his very beginnings they have contributed to the development of his facet as a guitarist. Carlos decided to receive classical training and earned his Higher Degree (“Grado”) in Music from the Higher Music Conservatory of Murcia, and a Master’s degree in Music Research from the University of Murcia. In 1995, he began his professional work with the flamenco guitar, having earned First Prize and the “Bordón Minero” at the Festival of Mines in 1996, as well as the “Ramón Montoya” National Guitar Prize of Cordoba in 1998, and the “Sabicas” First Prize at the National Flamenco Youth Festival, as well as others. He has had five albums published as a solo artist, and with the label RGB Arte Visual he published a book of compositions title “Mi sonanta.” He composed the soundtrack for the film “Desnudos,” by director Juan Manuel Chumilla. He closely collaborates with Naseer Shamma, as well as with other international performers including Yungchen Lhamo (Tibet), Fathy Salama (Egypt), Estrella Morente, Juan Manuel Cañizares, Carles Benavent, Javier la Torre, José Antonio, Jorge Pardo, Miles Jay (USA), the Andalusi Orchestra of Fez (Morocco), the Symphony Orchestra of Murcia, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Lublin (Poland), the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Said Chaibri (Morocco), Francoise Altan (Morocco), Aicha Redouane (Morocco), Ross Daly (Ireland), Ashraf Khan (Pakistan), Aytac Doga (Turkey) and Tommy Smith (Great Britain).
 
Miguel Ángel Orengo
Born in Murcia in 1977, he plays the drums, percussion and flamenco cajón. At the age of ten, he entered the Higher Music Conservatory of Murcia, where he would end up earning the highest grades and the Special End-of-study Award. He has received classes from Nasheet Waits, Dan Rieser, Antonio Sánchez, Bill Stewart, Marc Miralta, Jordi Rossy, Pakito Baeza, Rubem Dantas, Roberto Vizcaíno, Miguel Angá, Jerry González, Ney Rosauro, Miguel Bernat, Manel Ramada, José Armando García, José García Abellán, etc. At the current time, he is giving percussion classes at the Professional Music Conservatory of Murcia. He has played and recorded with Carlos and Curro Piñana, Por Herencia, Los Parrandboleros, Cómplices, Presuntos Implicados, El Negri, Aurora Guirado, Carmen Paris, Er Peche, Javier Vargas, Lou Bennet, Carles Benavent, Jorge Rossy, Nasser Shamma, Yungchen Lhamo, Luis Cobos and the Madrid Philharmonic, the Escolanía del Escorial, Filarmónica di Padova, Moscos Symphonic, Symphonic Orchestra of Murcia and the Youth Orchestra of the Region of Murcia.