Mohamed Assani

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Mohamed Assani

A Genre-Defying Sitarist and Composer

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About Mohamed

Mohamed Assani is a sitarist and composer, known for his genre-defying approach to music making. Trained in Indian/Pakistani classical music, Western classical music and jazz, his music-making seamlessly draws from different genres and cultures with depth and authenticity. Mohamed was twice nominated in 2021 and 2022 as ‘Instrumental Artist of the Year’ for the Western Canadian Music Awards.

NohoArtsDistrict.Com

“This collection of exquisitely crafted songs created by Mohamed Assani unfolds like a journey through an ocean of experiences, laid out for us with the grace of an artist. They are bold and extravagant, a twist of cultures and peppered with drama…kind of like a James Bond theme, but on a sitar.”
MusicNews.com

“Mohamed Assani's Wayfinder takes traditional Indian musicality and seamlessly weaves it into a futuristic hybrid sound. Not a passing gimmick or hook but the true melding of styles to create something greater than the sum of its parts.”
The Hype Magazine

``Mohamed Assani uses his sitar to take us on a journey through the unknown by connecting unsought musical worlds in an album that leads us into a futuristic musical fusion of sound. Just listen and let yourself embark on this stunning journey of rediscovery.”
Songlines Magazine

“Assani successfully combines the melodic sophistication of the Hindustani tradition with a more contemporary vibe. This is not easy to pull off, but the thoughtful approach taken by Assani gives the tracks a coherence that is sometimes lacking in other attempts.”

Featured Projects

Watersmeet: A Meeting Between South Asian & Western Musicians

‘Watersmeet’ is a suite of new music composed and arranged by Mohamed Assani for Vancouver’s Indian Summer Festival. This project brought to life a musical collaboration between Hindustani and Western musicians as a metaphoric meeting between rivers. Individually, rivers are…

South Asian Music Segment on CBC Radio

I’ve had the highly enjoyable opportunity to curate an ongoing segment on CBC Radio’s North by Northwest with Sheryl MacKay. I come on the show every month or two and chat with Sheryl about a different aspect of South Asian…

Finding a Way: Creativity During COVID-19

Reprinted from “The Word is Bond“ The Word is Bond has asked independent musicians from all walks of life to share their experiences coping with COVID-19 during this very tumultuous time. Our sixth voice is the Canadian-based sitarist, composer, and…

Songs for Scheherazade

Scheherazade, the fictional narrator of the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights), is one of literature’s greatest creations. She and her stories – Aladdin, Sinbad, Ali Baba – are a touchstone of Arab culture, that have been passed on…

“Pressed for Time” A Concerto for Sitar & Orchestra

The project brings together myself as a composer/sitarist working in the genre of Hindustani Classical music, alongside John Oliver – one of Canada’s leading composers of music for orchestras, chamber ensembles and electroacoustic media. Together we have created a composition…

Morning Raga

One of the unique characteristics of Indian music is the assignment of definite times of the day and night for performing Ragas (modes/melodies). It is believed that the Raga can only appear at the height of its melodic beauty if…