Yasmin Ibrahim is a Sudanese vocalist and songwriter hailing from Khartoum, Sudan, based in Sydney (Gadigal). Her childhood was filled with a wealth of art and music, growing in a home that valued and fostered creative expression. Indeed, it inspired a personal musical career, which professionally started with her involvement as a vocalist in the Sawra choir and band – a nationally critically acclaimed group. While in Sawra, she contributed to two albums, which were played extensively on TV and radio, as well as live performances in festivals and regular concerts throughout the country. In her beginnings as a solo project, Yasmin recorded songs for both Egyptian and Sudanese television and radio, as well as for Sudanese theatre.

With a rich and lengthy musical background in Sudan, when Yasmin arrived in Australia in 2005, she formed a band that same year, named Fanous (named after the Arabic word for ‘lantern’). Yasmin began making music that blended traditional Sudanese music, with wider African and Western styles, where she experimented with structure, composition and instrumentation. As such, her repertoire boasts an eclectic mix of folk, reggae, afro-jazz and kwassa kwassa. From ballads to rhythmic floor raisers, the genre-bending and diverse range of Yasmin’s music makes it universally appealing to an equally diverse audience. Listeners unfamiliar with Sudanese music are likely to find themselves on the dance floor at her performances. With Fanous mainly made up of piano/keyboard, bass, guitar, and drum players, musician solos are not a rarity at performances, and as such, are never short of being dynamic.

Yasmin’s first album released January 2012, which was accompanied by a successful music tour in Sudan – the first of many in the country. As a solo project, she has also toured in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and in Australia - Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Canberra. With Fanous, she has performed mostly across Sydney. Venues and events have included: Musica Viva, Camelot Lounge, Django Bar, Foundry 616, The University of Sydney, Africultures Festival, Motherland African Festival, New Beginning Festival, Haldon Street Festival, Grass Roots World Music Festival, Casula Power House Arts Centre, Blacktown Arts Centre, Addison Rd Centre, and various other African community events. She has been interviewed for FBI Radio, ABC Radio, SBS, Koori Radio, Eastside Radio, 2SER Radio, SkidRow Radio and Radio Monte Carlo.