About Mohamed Assani

Mohamed Assani is an accomplished musician and educator with a diverse portfolio of services to offer. He is a celebrated sitarist, a talented tabla player and a trained teacher with experience from primary to higher education. Mohamed’s musical background is broad and includes training in Indian Classical, Western Classical, jazz and fusion music. He has a degree in Western Classical music from Dartington College of Arts and a Bmus in Jazz & Popular Music from the Leeds College of Music. He also has a PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) in music teaching.

Mohamed is a celebrated sitarist with a unique sound. He has been studying sitar for a number of years, first under the tutelage of Dharambir Singh and now with Mehboob Nadeem. Mohamed plays sitar in the style developed by Ustad Vilayat Khan, which focuses on gayaki – a vocal style in which the sitar is made to emulate the human voice. Mohamed regularly performs sitar concerts both as a soloist and with larger ensembles. He performs Indian classical music on the sitar as well as his own compositions which draw upon musical influences and ideas from across the world.

Mohamed is also a talented tabla player. He frequently performs as an accompanist to both vocalists and instrumentalists. His tabla playing includes accompaniment of Indian classical & semi-classical music as well as collaborating with other world musicians in fusion music projects.

The combination of playing both sitar & tabla along with his Western music & jazz experience gives Mohamed an amazing array of ideas and influences to draw upon in his fusion work. He regularly plays with a number of fusion ensembles, including his band Indus. Mohamed has also taken his music to the theatre, including composing music & performing as part of “Dancing Within Walls” (a play by renowned playwright Rani Moorthy which ran at Contact Theatre in Manchester to high acclaim) and for “The Man Who Would be King” (a North Country Theatre touring production).

Additionally, Mohamed is a qualified teacher with experience from primary to higher education. During his extensive teaching career, he has taught at the Royal Academy of Music and the BRIT (British Record Industry Trust) School of Performing Arts & Technology in London. He is currently a visiting lecturer in Indian Music & Ensemble Technique at the University of Huddersfield and teaches sitar at the University of Leeds. Mohamed has a great commitment to community music and also delivers numerous projects in schools and community settings.

Mohamed is based in Leeds, England but regularly travels nationally & internationally to perform and teach.