Of Lebanese decent, Mr. Sheronick was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, IA. His first exposure to Arab music came from his mother singing over the drone of the vacuum cleaner. As with many first generation Americans there was a separation between the house (Arab) and the outside (American) world.

Yousif grew up on the "outside" playing with his neighbors' rock band and the local drum corp. His high school band director and student teacher (who happened to be a percussionist) convinced him to audition for the University of Iowa. The audition resulted in a full scholarship to UI where he studied with Tom Davis. In his four years at Iowa Yousif concentrated on contemporary music and jazz. He went on to get his masters at Yale University where he studied with Gordon Gottlieb. Mr. Gottlieb had a unique teaching method of combining Western and Eastern musical practices. Through Mr. Gottlieb, Yousif was introduced to instruments from around the world he never knew existed.

In 1990 Yousif traveled to musically rich Brazil. This was an enlightening trip for Yousif and at that point he moved his focus towards world music. After moving to New York in 1991 Yousif connected with master frame drummer Glen Velez. For the past fourteen years Yousif has been a member of Glen Velez and Handance. Glen's music and playing techniques have been a major influence to Yousif's work.

At present, Yousif is actively promoting the amalgamation of "World Music" and chamber music. This has come through work with ensembles and composers such as Philip Glass, Foday Musa Suso, Ethos Percussion Group (who has commissioned composers from Palestine, India, Israel, Korea, Argentina, and Italy) as well as the Pacifica Quartet who premiered a new work for Middle Eastern Percussion and String Quartet. Yousif also enjoys sharing these practices with other musicians. Most recent classes include Victoria College of the Arts (Melbourne, Australia), National Music Camp (Canberra, Australia), the Suzuki String Institute in Chicago and numerous college and high school clinics while on tour with Glen Velez and Handance, and Ethos Percussion Group.