Syrian oud master Rihab Azar was born in the Syrian city of Homs. She grew up in a musical family. Her father, luthier Samir Azar, made her first oud and started teaching her how to play when she was 7 years old.
Rihab continued her musical career later at the Damascus Conservatory. She learned from oud masters such as Prof. Askar Ali Akbar, Issam Rafea, Mohamad Osman and Ayman Aljesry.
The musical influences at the Conservatory included Azerbaijani, Arabic, Turkish, and Western classical music. This gave Rihab an understanding and practice of diverse musical genres.
Rihab delivers technical mastery and innovative vision to Arabic classical music. In 2014, she broke barriers as the first female oud player to perform with the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music.
After co-founding the groundbreaking Syrian Female Oriental Takht (2006-2015), she relocated to London on a scholarship, where Arts Council England recognized her as an “Exceptional Promise” artist.
Aside from performance, she’s an advocate for cultural dialogue, leading workshops on decolonization in music at Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
In 2025, Azar was one of the Aga Khan Music Awards 2025 finalists.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.