Pianist Mohamed Shams enjoys a varied musical life as a recitalist, soloist, chamber musician and accompanist. He has performed diverse repertoire in the United States, Europe, and the Far East. As a recitalist, accompanist, chamber musician, and soloist, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium, Yamaha Hall in London, Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow, Usher Hall in Edinburgh, and Kolarac Hall in Belgrade. He has collaborated with conductors such as Enrique Batiz, Philippe Entremont, Sergio Cardenas, Edward Cumming, Christoph Muller, David Danzmyr, Ahmed El-Saedi and Nader Abbassi. As a soloist, he has played with the Royal Philharmonic, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Göttingen Symphoniker, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Manhattan School Orchestra, Hartt School Orchestra, and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Orchestra. 

A 2006 Fulbright Grant recipient, Shams’s research of 20th century American composers led him to frequently perform works by Elliott Carter, John Corigliano, and Florence Price. He is also a champion of works by forgotten or rarely performed late 19th and early 20th century composers such as Medtner, Bortkiewicz, and Bacewicz.   

Shams earned his Doctorate from the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford and holds Masters from the Manhattan School of Music and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and a B.M. with distinction from the Cairo Conservatoire. He currently serves as a faculty member at the Purchase College Conservatory of Music and the University of Hartford. His former teachers include Edgar Davlianidze, Elena Dzamashvili, Douglas Weeks, Marc Silverman, Aaron Shorr, Steven Osborne and David Westfall.