Martin Shamoonpour is an autodidactic multi-instrumentalist, composer, actor, and visual artist from Tehran. As a teenager averse to school teachers, he began teaching himself daf, tombak, flute, and Iranian folk woodwind instruments, eventually performing in galleries and theaters throughout Iran. To date, Shamoonpour has composed and performed music for close to thirty theater productions in The City Theater of Tehran and has written, directed and performed his own one-man-show, Qatinu the Hero, at many of Iran’s most prominent artistic theaters. Always looking to explore new avenues of creativity, Shamoonpour has released three experimental music albums, including 8-Bit (2014), which features 8-bit versions of Iranian folk music and Tehransaranieh, (2010, Hermes Records) which combines the “concrète” sounds of city life with ambient music and traditional instruments. He has produced various audio art installations for the Parkingallery, Fravahrgallery, Tehran House Of Artists, and Laleh Art Gallery in Iran. In 2015, Shamoonpour left Iran and now regularly tours the United States with Journey West, an eight-person music ensemble that performs traditional Eastern music at theaters and universities from New York City to Washington State.