Dieter van der Westen, (composer of contemporary North African music) (1974)was born in Tilburg, The Netherlands. He began learning guitar at the age of eight, playing pop and rock music. His first forays into North African music were at the age of sixteen and he went on to perform with such North African artists as Ithran before going on to share the stage with the likes of Khaled, Cheb Mami, and Tarkan. Dieter was one of the founding members of the group Safaraï that fused with the band Folk Nass to form Kasba in 2002. He has been playing North African music for the past seventeen years and his first published North African music compositions date back to 1995. Besides composing and arranging for Kasba, Dieter composes and records music for artists, dance and theater groups, radio, internet and solo projects at his home studio. He too has collaborated on musical compositions with the Dutch artists Paul de Leeuw, Thé Lau and BlØf.