Bio

Bassem is a Vancouver based multitalented musician and Egyptian Arabic dialect coach. He is a songwriter with years of experience as a pianist and teacher.

Bassem sang solo and also played the piano as a young boy. He started writing songs in his early teens and a couple of years later he started giving piano lessons.

Bassem joined the Cairo Conservatory in Egypt at the age of seven. 

In classical piano, he finished grade 8 in classical piano from the ABRSM (equivalent to grade 10 RCM)  & grade 5 in theory of music.

He studied jazz with Berklee college of music graduate Rashad Fahim.

A year before graduating from college, he played his first gig with a jazz quartet in Semiramis Intercontinental downtown Cairo. Since that time he has played in a lot of different venues with most jazz singers & musicians in the scene in Egypt. He has played for audiences in various events and weddings as a solo pianist and with other musicians, too.

He played in five-star hotels such as the Nile Ritz Carlton, the Nile Kempinski, the Semiramis Intercontinental Cairo, Intercontinental City Stars, and the Four Seasons Hotels. He performed on occasions in other venues in Cairo such as Cairo Jazz Club, El Saqia Cultural Wheel, The room, and the Cairo Opera House to name a few.

In Vancouver, he has moved forward with his professional career on all fronts. Besides teaching privately, he has also taught at Wesbrook community centre on UBC campus for three years. 

As a pianist, Bassem has a distinctive sound fusing ethnic Middle Eastern music with jazz and pop. His originals in Arabic and English touch the hearts of listeners from different backgrounds and cultures. His overflowing creativity is utilized in everything he does.

Bassem started working as an Egyptian Arabic dialect coach in the film industry in 2020.

Bassem has a bachelor’s degree in public relations and advertising from Cairo University while his wife Mary is finishing her Ph.D. in educational studies from University of British Columbia.