About
The player
Twenty years at the instrument. A teacher for more than a decade. An accompanist on Pakistan's principal stages, and lately on Europe's.
Profile
Asher Shehzad
A tabla player of twenty years' standing, trained under Ustad Haroon Samuel of the Punjab gharana, and a teacher of the instrument and of classical theory for over a decade.
He has taught across university, school and traditional-arts settings, including a visiting faculty appointment at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. He is a regular accompanist on Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan, and appears at Pakistan's principal concert platforms — the All Pakistan Music Conference, Alhamra Arts Council, the National College of Arts and the Pakistan National Council of the Arts among them. He has performed professionally since 2010.
In June and July 2026 he completed an eighteen-concert European tour across ten countries as tabla accompanist to the classical vocalist Muslim Shaggan, appearing at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, the Rudolstadt Festival and the Copenhagen Jazz Festival.
He teaches the repertoire of the instrument alongside the theory of laya and taal that underpins it.
Taleem
Ustad Haroon Samuel
Traditional guru–shishya training in tabla, Lahore — the Punjab gharana, learned in the old way: by sitting with the teacher, year after year, until the hands know what the ear already understands.
Teaching
Fifteen years in the classroom
Tabla & Classical Music Theory Instructor
One-to-one and small-group instruction from beginner to advanced level, on a graded syllabus covering theka, kaida, rela, tukra and accompaniment practice.
Tabla & Classical Music Theory Instructor
Taught tabla within a traditional-arts curriculum set alongside classical vocal, philosophy and the visual arts.
Visiting Faculty — Tabla & Classical Music Theory
Tabla and classical theory instruction for undergraduate students within the university's music programme, including preparation for campus performance.
Music Instructor
Classroom music teaching across year groups, covering tabla, rhythm and classical fundamentals; directed music for concerts and annual functions.
Tabla & Classical Music Theory Instructor
Tabla & Classical Music Theory Instructor
National platforms
Where he has played
Performing professionally since 2010 in both solo and accompaniment settings, alongside established national artists and visiting international musicians.
- All Pakistan Music Conference — Lahore & Karachi
- Alhamra Arts Council, Lahore
- National College of Arts, Lahore
- Pakistan National Council of the Arts, Islamabad
- PILAC, Lahore
- Lahore Music Forum
- British Council — Caravan programme
- Sur Mandal Foundation
- Embassy of Spain — two consecutive years
Broadcast & recording
On air and in the studio
Pakistan Television (PTV), Lahore
Tabla on Raat Gayee across seven to eight broadcasts, with repeated live and recorded appearances on Firdaus-e-Gosh and Weekend @ Home.
Radio Pakistan, Lahore
Solo tabla in national and internationally relayed programmes.
Sufiscore & honiunhoni
Session tabla for studio recordings and music-video releases; touring musician on honiunhoni's 2026 European programme.
YouTube — @ashershehzad4413
A published catalogue of solo and accompaniment recordings that has drawn 769,000 views and 7,000 subscribers, used as an open teaching and listening resource.
Honours
Gold Medal, 2008
First Prize, Ustad Mian Qadir Bakhsh Tabla Competition — All Pakistan Music Conference, Lahore. Awarded at the age of fourteen.
Languages
- Urdu — native
- Punjabi — native
- English — professional working
Education