Midday-Concert – Oud Duet (oriental lute)
Tuesday, April 26
from 12:00 to 1:15 p.m.
Salle Polyvalente EPFL
This concert offers a beautiful journey, where music is weaved differently, and where the notes are rich and unexpected. A true initiation journey through oriental music.
This Oud duo (oriental lutes) is interpreted by an EPFL professor and his music teacher. It combines improvisation and oriental style dialogues. Background slides and oriental illustrations will set the atmosphere to every mode interpretation.
Musicians:
- Maher Kayal, Professor in the STI faculty at EPFL and oud player
- Yousra Dhahbi, Oud soloist
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Yousra Dhahbi was born into a family of musicians and from an early age she sensed the call of sounds! She embarked on studying music which catapulted her international career as a soloist. As an artist with tremendous creativity, Yousra is an expert on the art of “Maqam”, the art of arabic modes. She mastered improvisation, constructing her melodies with an exemplary rigor and inspiration beyond any cliché. She worked as the Director of the National Conservatory of Music in Tunisia where she also taught “Oud” and the oriental singing techniques before moving to Switzerland and pursuing her career in teaching.
Holder of dual Nationality, Lebanese and Swiss, professeur Maher Kayal arrived in Switzerland at the age of 17 to study at EPFL where he obtained a Master’s degree followed by a PhD degree. He is professor and Director of the faculty of energy Management and Sustainability. Fascinated by the Orient (Near East and Middle East) and benefiting of his multicultural background, he expanded his personal research by studying first Arabic calligraphy followed by modal music which has been performed for centuries in those parts of the world. Thanks to the Conservatory and the “Haute Ecole de Music (HEMU) in Lausanne which were momentarily open to oriental music, he was able to study under Yousra Dhahabi Modal music and its technical interpretation improvised on the oriental lute (Oud).
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