Born in 1977 in Iran, Reza Samani learned to play Tombak and Daf from his brother, Behnam Samani, by the age of ten. By twelve, he learned to play a wide array of woodwind instruments including Sorna, Korna and Neyanban from renowned Iranian masters Khodadad Gholami, Ruzali Nurbakhsh, and Mahmud Sharifi.

Reza Samani has performed with world-renowned musicians such as Rahmatollah Badii, Hossein Alizadeh, Keyhan Kalhor, Salar Aghili, and Konstantin Wecker in various international music projects, in many prestigious concert halls and for renowned radio stations such as WDR and SWR.  As a soloist and as an ensemble player, he has played in the music groups Zarbang Ensemble, Samani Duo, Rumi Ensemble, and Tom-Ta-Ka Ensemble, and has toured extensively in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Reza Samani has performed in the Percussion Festival in London, Iranian Music Festival in Munich, Villas de Verano in Madrid, the Ruhr Triennale, the Silk Road Festival in Hong Kong, and in the 2010 Sounds of Arabia in Abu Dahbi.

Based in Cologne, Germany, Reza Samani has been teaching Tombak, Daf, and Zarbang Udoo, and Frame Drum for several years throughout Germany and Europe. He is a well-appreciated percussion teacher in workshops and at festivals.  He has organized the Drumming Holiday (www.drummingholiday.com) workshops in Austria since 2008.  His other recent and active projects include Zarbang Ensemble, Cenawa Trio, Santur and Tombak Duo Donava, Samani Duo, and Rumi Ensemble. Together with Silke Marquardt and Dirk Kilian, in 2015 he formed Ensemble Joyosa. 

2017 started for Reza with a performance at Philharmonie Köln together with Zarbang Ensemble and Shahrokh Moshkin Galam. During the concert period 2017 he travelled to Vienna, Berlin, Thessaloniki, Munich, Venice, Antwerp and Genf. In autumn he was invited to play with Ensemble Musikfabrik at Philharmonie Essen.

2018 will begin at Errichetta Festival Rome, where Reza teaches workshops and performs with fellow musicians since many years.