Tombak In The Spotlight On Between Hands
Kaveh Mahmudiyan — Between Hands (Global Sonics, 2025) Kaveh Mahmudiyan’s first solo album, Between Hands presents his own compositions with the tombak (Persian goblet-shaped drum).…
Artist Profiles: Ragheb Alama
For many years, Ragheb Alama has been the biggest name in Lebanese pop music. His albums have gone gold or platinum throughout the Arab world,…
Artist Profiles: Maurice Chedid
Maurice Chedid studied at the Lebanese Conservatory of Middle Eastern Music. As a member of the Lebanese Folkloric Group, he toured internationally for four years…
Artist Profiles: Marcel Khalife
Marcel Khalife was born in 1950 in Amchit, Mount-Lebanon. He studied the ud (the Arabic lute, also known as oud and l’ud) at the Beirut…
Artist Profiles: Georges Barbar
Georges Barbar was born in Lebanon, where he started developing his artistic skills at a very young age. At the age of 10, he was…
Artist Profiles: Yoko Hiraoka
Yoko Hiraoka is a master of the classical music of Japan and performs with koto, shamisen and voice. Her early training as a young player…
Artist Profiles: Yuji Hasegawa
Yuji Hasegawa was born in 1941 in Itayanagi, Aomori. He is the leading performer of tsugaru-shamisen in the Hasegawa-Sangenkai Style. He is also the Chairman…
Artist Profiles: Naser Musa
A Jordanian of Palestinian descent, singer/songwriter Naser Musa started playing ‘ud, a Middle Eastern lute, at an early age while living in Amman, Jordan. In…
Artist Profiles: Ruba Saqr
Singer-songwriter Ruba Saqr’s work has been internationally recognized by winning the UNESCO Prize for Best Innovative Performance Bridging Traditional and Contemporary Traditions in 2007 (for…
Artist Profiles: Ardak Issataeva
Female entertainers have played a key role in the community life of Central Asian women and continue to do so today. Ardak Issataeva, from the…
Artist Profiles: Ulzhan Baibussynova
Female entertainers have played a key role in the social life of Central Asia women and continue to do so today. Ulzhan Baibussynova is a…