Maya Youssef

Maya Youssef (born 1984) is a Syrian musician and composer based in the United Kingdom who plays the qanun. She has performed on the BBC Proms and WOMAD.

Maya Youssef
Background information
Born1984
Damascus, Syria
GenresSyrian music, Arabic music, jazz
Occupation(s)Composer, musician, singer
Instrument(s)qanun, violin
Websitemayayoussef.com

Personal life and education

Maya Youssef was born in 1984 in Damascus, Syria, into a family of artists and writers.[1][2] Her father is the writer and journalist Hassan M. Youssef, and her mother Rose Makhlouf is a translator.[3][4]

At the age of seven she started to study music at the Sulhi al-Wadi Institute of Music in Damascus. Encouraged by her mother, the nine-year-old Maya chose the violin as her main instrument,[1] before switching to the qanun.[5]

At the age of 12, Youssef won the Best Musician Award in Syria's National Music Competition for Youth. She attended the High Institute of Music and Dramatic Arts in Damascus, studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree in music (where she specialized in studying the qanun); at the same time she worked towards obtaining a B.A. in English literature at the University of Damascus. Youssef was a founder member of the Syrian Female Oriental Band (SFOG) in 2003. She completed her degree in music in 2007 after studying with the Syrian composer and qanun player Salim Sarwa and Azerbaijani musician Elmira Akhundova.[1] She was also given master classes by the Turkish qanun player Göksel Baktagir.[3]

Youssef moved to Dubai in 2007 to focus on her solo career. In 2009 she was offered a post to teach the qanun and Arabic music at the Department of Music and Musicology, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. She now lives in the UK,[1] having moved to London in 2012 under the Arts Council England’s Exceptional Talent scheme.[3][6]

Musical and academic career

In July 2014, Youssef appeared at the BBC Proms, playing as a solo artist and as part of an ensemble, with Kuljit Bhamra (tabla) and Adam Oscar Storey (double bass).[7] At the end of 2016 she signed a contract to record with the independent record label Harmonia Mundi.[1]

Her debut album Syrian Dreams was produced by Joe Boyd and released in November 2017 under the Harmonica Mundi label.[1][6][8] Youssef explained, "The main trigger that made me create Syrian Dreams was the Syrian war and the loss of my homeland. And it’s only by embarking on that spiritual journey of constant meditation and of finding home within God and within myself that I started to feel consolable and started to feel that I have my own home within me."[9]

In 2018 she won the Newcomer Award this week at the Songlines Music Awards in London.[10] She has performed on the BBC Proms and WOMAD.[11] In May 2019, she was invited by the British Council to play at the European Cultural Festival in Algiers.[12]

As of 2021 Youssef is the Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Middle Eastern Ensemble at the University of London. Her research at the SOAS involves investigating how music can be used as a healing tool for children in Syrian refugee camps.[13]

Discography
  • Syrian Dreams (November 2017)[8]
  • The Last Post (Soundtrack) (2017)
  • Gold (Soundtrack) (2017)
  • Finding home (2022)

References
  1. Jurek, Thom (2021). "Biography: Maya Youssef". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  2. Lyon, Alistair (1 June 2007). "Syrian women's group nurtures Arab musical roots". Reuters. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  3. Broughton, Simon (2018). "Maya Youssef: Syrian Dreams (Harmonia Mundi)". Songlines. United Kingdom. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  4. Al Jaber, Iman (17 July 2009). "حسن م. يوسف: سيناريست القضايا الخاسرة" [Hassan M. Youssef: Scriptwriter of Lost Causes]. Al Akhbar (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 2009-07-17. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  5. "About". Maya Youssef. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  6. "Maya Youssef: Women Make Music". London: PRS Foundation. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  7. "Alumna Maya Youssef to play the Proms on Saturday". SOAS, University of London. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  8. Hutchinson, Charles. "Syrian qanun virtuoso Maya Youssef makes 'Dream' debut at NCEM on Friday". The York Press. No. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  9. "Maya Youssef Quintet". Norwich Arts Centre. 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  10. "The first Arab to ever receive the honour: Syrian qanun player wins top music award". The National. Abu Dhabi. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  11. "My Story". Maya Youssel Music. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  12. Bloomfield, Stephen (10 July 2019). "Maya Youssef in Algeria". Music. British Council. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  13. "Mrs Maya Youssef". SOAS. University of London. 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
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