Sami Alsindi

Music has been an extremely important part of my life for as long as I can remember. It continues to be a passion that drives me to improve and there is no feeling more powerful than performing in concert. It continues to intrigue and challenge my preconceptions at every turn. 15 years ago, I picked up my first classical guitar. I attained the highest mark Distinction in Grade 8 in Doncaster in my final year of school, and was awarded Doncaster Young Musician along with 4 other students, leading to performances in Taganrog, Russia in 2008. My favourite instrument when I was growing up was the drums. Self-taught for 7 years, playing along to bands such as Rush and Dream Theater, I finally formalised my skill in the form of a Grade 8 Distinction in 2010. However, my true love of percussion was discovered late, when I was 16. It took 9 months from starting to reach Grade 8 Distinction in Percussion (Timpani/Marimba). For that year, I played percussion and drumkit for every ensemble based at the William Appleby Music Centre in Doncaster, often covering 2 or more percussion parts in each ensemble. This was also where I had my first composition, 'Finality', premiered by the Beechfield Youth Orchestra in 2010. Since starting in the University of Cambridge, studying Natural Sciences, I threw myself into the menagerie of opportunity available, playing Timpani for the CUMS Symphony Orchestra for 5 years, Drums, Percussion and Timpani for the Cambridge University Pops Orchestra for 4 years, Drums for Waterbeach Brass Band and currently Haverhill Silver Band, having contested 5 times including the First Section National Finals in 2016, and singing Tenor for Corpus Christi Chapel Choir for 3 years. I am now the drummer for Bitter Moose, a 6-piece Jazz/Rock/Pop band, and continue to play one-off for many orchestras and groups in and around Cambridge, most recently the Drums for West Side Story Symphonic Dances with City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra. I continue to compose in my spare time, ranging from liturgical choral work to progressive metal to solo classical guitar to full symphonic work. My fascination with music and science led me to the intersection, studying how neurons in the auditory system process pitch-evoking stimuli. I investigate a structure, the 'medial superior olive', and its possible role in combining information underlying pitch perception from both ears. Long term, I wish to investigate the neural origins of perfect pitch, whose mechanism is something that still perplexes me even though I have it!