Performing Hybridity – live/hybrid concert with Thabet Azzawi
Education in hybrid formats not only extends to primary subjects such as Maths or History. Education in hybrid formats also presents a challenge for teachers conveying knowledge about artistic production and intercultural differences in Music and Art.
Thabet Azzawi, a pioneering oud player from DeirAzzor in Syria, will discuss his experiences while teaching and performing online and hybridly during the Covid-19 pandemic. He will address challenges with which musicians and music educators like him were confronted and he will discuss opportunities that presented themselved through the online format.
Thabet Azzawi originally moved to Dresden in 2015 after leaving Syria as a refugee. Since then, he has implemented his musical talents in band projects and educational workshops in Dresden and throughout Germany. Thabet began playing the oud at the age of eight and later improved the instrument by expanding the number of strings from five to six to allow for a more dynamic play. Since, he has founded the „Syrian Music Week“, and he has performed together with known artists such as Yo-Yo-Ma, Sting, BAP, Konstantin Wecker and others.
For the Landesbühnen Sachsen, Thabet composed the music for the theater piece „Vebrennungen“, and he played in the Dresden Philarmonic Orchestra for the Fairytale Opera „Die arabische Prinzessin“. Further, he played the film music by Philipp Kümpel for the animated film „Die Odyssee“. A continuous supporter of young talent in Saxony, Thabet supports the Landesjungendorchester Saxony as a solo performer. This collaboration resulted in the production of the CD „West-Östlicher Diwan“. Other projects include the foundation of the „Stringed Compass“, a duo ensemble with Max Loeb Garcia, which will soon release its first album „Migrant Migraine“.
In Saxony, Thabet is further active in the Banda Internationale, a local brass collective working for better intercultural understanding and against racism in the city.
During this event, Thabet will perform interpretations of known Arabic classics and his own compositions.