Basma Edrees is an Egyptian violinist, performer, and educator. Passionate about introducing the world to the rich music of her upbringing, Edrees has given Arabic music workshops at UC Berkeley, Stanford and Labyrinth Online. She has taught Arabic music and European counterpoint at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and is currently on the violin faculty of Santa Clara University. Basma Edrees earned her Bachelors and Masters degrees in violin performance from Mannes School of Music and The Juilliard Schools in New York. She enjoys a rich career as a western classical violinist, Argentine Tango violinist and Arabic violin player.

Sirvan Manhoobi started his musical journey at age 13 studying tar/sehtar with Keivan Saket and Behrooz Hemati. He chose oud as his primary instrument and attended classes with Arsalan Kamkar. He studied with Mohammad Reza Lotfi (Radif Navazi-Iranian classical music repertoire), Mehran Rohani (principles and history of music), Siamak Jahangiri (improvisation and analysis of Radif Navazi). He received Best Soloist awards at Iranian music festivals and formed the Bamdad Music Ensemble, focusing on Kurdish and Iranian classical music. He has a master’s of archaeology from Tehran University and currently lives in Oakland, performing, composing, and teaching Iranian and Kurdish music.

Reda Darwish, a native of Cairo, has been playing various percussion instruments since childhood. At eight years old, he was featured weekly on Egyptian television. Soon after he was playing for Egypt’s most famous dancers and singers including Fayza Ahmed, Nagat Al Saghira, and Samira Said. He later toured with Hani Mahanna’s orchestra, including to the United States where Darwish has now made his new home. He has also recorded his own compositions and was commissioned to compose the soundtrack for Reader’s Digest’s Wonders Sacred and Mysterious series covering Egypt and Turkey.

www.basmaedreesviolin.com

https://www.youtube.com/c/BasmaEdrees

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