Yousif Sheronick appears internationally as soloist and chamber musician with world renowned artists including Philip Glass, Glen Velez, Foday Musa Suso, Simon Shaheen,Henry Threadgill, the Lark Quartet, Paul Winter Consort and duoJalal, the most recent collaboration with his wife, violist Kathryn Lockwood.
Hailed by The New York Times for his “dazzling improvisations,” Yousif credits his ability to work in such diverse genres to having studied contemporary classical, jazz, world and rock music, which he fuses seamlessly into his playing. Yousif’s unique style encompasses traditions and instruments from the Middle East, North and West Africa, Brazil, India, and Europe. He has appeared throughout the US, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia with appearances at Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall (London) the JVC and Newport Jazz Festivals, Jazztel (Madrid), Renaissance Festival(Rethymno, Greece), Early Music Festival (Regensburg, Germany) and Jerusalem Festival (Palestine).
Distinguished collaborators include Yo-Yo Ma, Branford Marsalis, Pandit Samir Chatterjee, Marcel Khalife,Sonny Fortune and Cindy Blackman. Modern Drummer magazine calls Yousif’s critically-acclaimed solo CD titled Silk Thread “a testimony to his genius”.
He holds degrees from Yale University and the University of Iowa.