Multi-percussionist AFRA MUSSAWISADE
was born in Teheran in 1973. After
his education in persian classical
percussion from Arjang Kamkar and the
Tonbak-master Farhangfar, he moved
to Germany in 1983 where he started
to play piano and cello. Later, he
studied Latin American percussion at
the Rotterdam Conservatory for Music.
He attended classes with Luis Conte,
Glen Velez, Martin Verdonk, Nicky
Marrero and Alex Acuna. Beginning in
1999, he studied at the Conservatory
of Santiago de Cuba and Havana and
took private lessons with local
greats of the Cuban music scene.
Always striving for new perspectives,
he studied South Indian percussion
at the Karnataka College Of
Percussion in 2003. He has performed
with numerous projects and artists
including Joe Lovano, Zuco103, SFEQ,
Till Broenner, Praful, Jeroen van
Vliet and the WDR Bigband. Afra
translated his goal to incorporate
different styles of percussion from
all over the globe to a highly
original and musical setup.
His eclectic style and fluent feel
has made him an indemand artist
on the contemporary European music
scene, both as a performing artist
and session musician.