The young Qanun virtuoso Maya Youssef left her home city of Damascus to study in Dubai and thanks to a scholarship ended up in London, where she worked with people including Damon Albarn. On her muchlauded debut album Syrian Dreams (2017, Harmonia Mundi, produced by the legendary Joe Boyd), she commented: “This album is my personal journey through the war years in Syria. I regard playing music as the opposite of death. Making music as an act of life and of hope.” We hear her incredible virtuosity in colourful compositions based on the traditional Arab maqam, but with room for improvisation
and with elements of jazz and flamenco.
Maya Youssef: Qanun | Barney Morse-Brown: Cello | Elizabeth Nott: Percussion