Meet Shama:

Hi my name is Dr Shama Rahman and I am a multi-disciplinary storyteller in the areas of science, performance and visual arts.

I have an interdisciplinary PhD in the ‘Complex Neuroscientific Systems and Processes of Musical Creativity’, investigating emergent neural systemic patterns in the electrical brain activity of Jazz and Classical pianists during the generation of two types of musical creativity: Improvisation and Interpretation. I am a co-author of a chapter of book ‘Creativity in the Twenty First Century: Multidisciplinary Contributions to the Science of Creative Thinking’ by Springer which is due to be published summer 2015. I have also spoken at TedX on the subject of 'Multidisciplinary Creativity"

As a musician, some of my music and lyrics are conceptually inspired by my research. Both my music and lyrics are often unconventional in format beginning their life as poems and taking flight as songs but always adhering to a strong storytelling backbone. I have been awarded an Emerging Excellence Award, I was a shortlisted finalist for Sky Arts Scholarship, and was commissioned by composer residency 'Take V'. I am a multi-instrumentalist and I perform around the world with my quintet as a Sitarist/Vocalist. My album ‘Fable:Time’ has enjoyed international airplay.

I am also an actor and active theatre-maker having both written and devised for other companies and ensembles as well as my own company 'Jugular'.

Merging my passions, I founded award-winning creative production company ‘Jugular: Joining The Head and The Heart’ with a powerful vision: to showcase and develop rich interactions between cutting-edge science and newly commissioned creative performance, showing clearly in every ‘session’ that science, art, philosophy and entertainment are equally valid and fundamental parts of culture, each most fruitfully pursued in dialogue with the others. ‘Sessions’ encompass events, workshops and an online blog and video channel.