Shaukat Wali

 

Biography

BShaukat was born in Tagab, Afghanistan, in 1984 in a family of musicians. Shaukat's family left Afghanistan in 1985 and settled in Peshawar, Pakistan when Shaukat was only one year old.

Shaukat had three years of education in Peshawar before leaving school due to economic hardships. After a few years, he was able to resume studies with a private teacher for five years.

In 1993 Shaukat started learning rubab from his brother, Zarwali and father, Ustad Shah Wali. One year later, after learning the basics of rubab at home, Showkat went to upgrade his skills in rubab, taking the guidance and teachings of renowned rubab teacher, Ustad Ghulam Sakhi of Afghanistan, in Peshawar, for nine years.

Shaukat introduced new methods to rubab by playing guitar scales and mandolin with rubab.

On a fundraising drive for the reconstruction of Afghanistan in 2002, Shaukat performed in different cities of Japan. Later, he visited Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia where he collected 8 million dollars for the cause.

During his music career, Showkat has performed on Pakistan Television, Radio Afghanistan, Pakistani Cinemas and variety of live concerts in Pakistan.

Shaukat came to Canada as a refugee in January 2004 and has since performed in the Toronto and Hamilton regions.