Tim O'Keefe is a percussionist and multi-instrumentalist whose experience spans musical styles from the Middle East to Central Asia to South America. He has performed with many exceptional artists in Arabic, Persian and Kurdish music, including Simon Shaheen, Sattar, Sussan, the Georges Lammam Ensemble and Siwan Perwar, and with other noted musicians from Iran, Brazil, and the Arab world and studied with Arabic percussion greats such as Micheal Mirhege and Nassar Abido. Tim has performed from coast to coast in the US. and at the Jerash Festival in Jordan and the International Music Festival in Bethlehem. Recently, he recorded The Passionate Voice of the Oud with award winning Jordanian oud master Sakher Hattar and has composed and performed for theater productions of “ Sohrab and Rustum," “Haroun and the Sea of Stories," and “Gotama” among others. In 2009 he composed and recorded the soundtrack for the short film in the touring “Lost Egypt” exhibit produced by The Science Museum of Minnesota.

Tim regularly performs with a wide range of Twin Cities groups including Amwaaj, Saharan Nights, Robayat, Mark Stillman, Brasamba, Batucada do Norte, RaiAction, Touareg, Ethnic Dance Theater, The Jawaahir Dance Company, Cassandra and others. Along with his active performing life, Tim has been teaching percussion workshops and private lessons for many years. He has taught the drum ensemble class at Music Tech (now McNally Smith College), a world rhythm and music class for the Suzuki Piano Institute at the Macphail Center for Music, and drum classes at The Cassandra School of Dance along with workshops and school residencies. In 2005, Tim was given the honor of teaching percussion at the Arabic Music Retreat in Massachusetts, a unique retreat for the study of classical Arabic music presented by Simon Shaheen and the Arab-American Arts Institute.