Assaf Shatil- Bio

Composer/Improviser/Pianist

Born in Haifa, 1976, and grew up in Israel. He has lived in various landscapes of Israel until his family settled in Yokneam Moshava in the lower Galilee.

A creative and versatile pianist/improviser and composer, Assaf lines up with a new worldwide generation of instrumental performers and writers for whom the notion of genre is becoming increasingly ambiguous.

Among his many projects and activities he leads his own Jazz Piano trio dedicated to original compositions and concepts, and performs throughout Israel and abroad. Assaf is also a prolific singer/songwriter and currently in the process of recording his songs.

A passionate improviser, Assaf is an active member, as a pianist and composer, of ensemble Musica Nova which is dedicated to the performance of contemporary improvised music in Israel; guided by the artistic direction of composer Amnon Wollman.

Assaf holds a Masters degree in Contemporary Improvisation from the prestigious New England Conservatory of music in Boston, where he was a student of Ran Blake, Anthony Coleman, Dominique Eade and Hankus Netsky. Before that he studied in Montreal with some of Canada's best Jazz musicians such as Wray Downs, Jan Jarczyk, Jeff Johnston, and Andre White. (B.F.A Jazz Performance and Print media Concordia University, Montreal, L.Mus Jazz Performance McGill University, Montreal)

In the summer of 2005 Assaf has had the privilege to attend the Banff Jazz and creative music workshop where he studied with Dave Douglas, Vijay Iyer, Mark Dresser, Han Bennink, Micha Mengelberg, and Ernest Glerum among others.

In his emerging experience as an improviser he had the privilege to improvise with creative artists such as Susan Alcorn, David Grubbs, Fred Frith, Elliot Sharp, Henry Grimes, Tanya Kalmanovitch, and others.

After much traveling, Assaf is currently living in Tel Aviv, and is involved with the experimental/Jazz/Pop music scene in Israel and abroad.