Folk Bands and Artists
Rihab Azar
London
Rihab Azar, Syrian Oud player and teacher, is one of the few known professional Arab women oudists.
Her father, luthier Samir Azar taught her the oud when she was only 7 years old. As a child, Rihab won the first prize in children’s oud competition in Syria for five successive years between the age of seven and eleven.
Having been supervised by masters of the instrument from Syria, Turkey and Azerbaijan later at the Conservatoire of Damascus, she was able at an early age to prove herself as one of the virtuoso oud players, which lead her in 2014 to become the first woman oudist to solo-perform accompanied by The Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music.
She taught music theory at the Conservatoire of Damascus for the academic year that followed her graduation in 2014.
Rihab was the oud player of the prominent “Syrian Female Oriental Takht“ between 2006 and 2015, the time when she left Syria for further education sponsored by The Foreign and Common Wealth Office. She is currently completing her Master´s degree in Music Education at University College London.
Rihab has been performing around the UK since 2015, giving instrumental lessons and collaborating with unique musicians and art sponsors, the most recent being the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians, Damon Albarn and AfricaExpress.
Rihab was recognized in December 2016 by Arts Council England as an “Exceptional Promise“ which allowed her to conduct her musical and educational activities further from a UK-base as a “Migrant Talent”.
