Ensemble Zar

About Ensemble Zar

Comprised of up to 14 of the UK’s finest musicians, Ensemble Zar is a fresh and fearless cross-genre ensemble whose mission is to express the Middle Eastern artistic temperament in its rawest form, and experiment with new sounds in the process. It’s musicians are well-versed in both Eastern and Western idioms, culminating in ancient Western and Asian instruments, equally at home performing complex written contemporary music as well as masters of improvisation, relishing in the spontaneous nature of Oriental music. 

Ensemble Zar has performed for the Metta Theatre production of ‘Arab Nights’ (dir. Poppy Burton-Morgan, Soho Theatre production). It has also, most notably, played the live score to the world’s first feature- length silent film animation, The Adventures of Prince Achmed at the Southbank (part of Women of the World Festival - WOW) and Barbican as a Birds Eye View Film Festival commission, for which it received critical acclaim. 2014 saw a performance at Birmingham Symphony Hall and a recording of feature animation film, The Prophet, produced by Salma Hayek Pinault, with music by Gabriel Yared. 

About the musicians 
Each musician is an award-wining master and rebel of his/her own tradition with a natural feel for performing in transcultural contexts. Many of whom perform Western classical repertoire as well as traditional Eastern music (folk or classical art music), especially arranged or in its monodic form. All have toured the world performing in prestigious venues such as New York's Carnegie Hall, Southbank, Wigmore Hall, and the renowned Lebanese singer, Fairouz.

'An orchestration of personalities...'”

Hyelim Kim

KOREAN TAEGUM

As composer and daegeum (Korean flute) soloist, Dr Hyelim Kim has been using pioneering intercultural/interdisciplinary approaches through rooted in Korean traditional music.
As a daegeum virtuoso, Kim was selected as an ‘emerging artist’ by the Korean Arts Council and as the Kumho Young Artist, has been invited to perform a live session with Nils Frahm on BBC Radio 3’s celebrated Late Junction, and was the soloist on the world premier of a daegeum  concertino performed with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, to name a few.

Faraz Eshghi Sahrai

Persian Kamanche/Qeychak

 As a diversely trained multi-instrumentalist , Faraz’s music reflects his passion for both Western classical and Middle-Eastern music.

A kamānche player and composer, Faraz Eshghi was born in Rasht, Northern Iran. He has been actively practicing Eastern and Western bowed instruments since 2000’s.Inspired by Iranian illuminated architecture, he published his first album “The Impression on The Wall” in 2009 and won the 2nd prize in a nationwide musical festival.

Miloš Milivojevič

Accordion

Award-winning Serbian born Miloš Milivojević has been described as “A hurricane of imaginative invention” by Hilary Finch, The Times. His versatility as a musician performing different genres including classical, tango and world music, has ensured he is in demand internationally. Miloš is a first prizewinner at international accordion competitions in Germany (Klingental), France (Grand Prix), Italy (Castelfidardo) and Denmark (Diremose Prisen).

Projects

Concerts

Ensemble Zar programs works for the concert hall by the composer Bushra El-Turk and other contemporary composers, bringing new music to diverse audiences.

Silk Moth Opera 

 Every year an estimated 5000 women worldwide are murdered by their own families in so-called honour killings, 12 of them in the UK. 'Silkmoth' places onstage a mother. We are her guests at home. This one-woman performance raises powerful questions are immediately raised: what is her role in this horrific 'tradition' ? Is she a victim, submissive, or coldly complicit? This project was supported by Arts Council England and Nour Arts Festival.

Community Work 

Ensemble Zar produces education workshops/projects for all pockets of the community, in the previous incarnation of Chelsea Music Academy. Past projects include workshops at Leighton House Museum, Kensington Palace Youth Programme, YoungStars Creative Arts Academy, Arab British Centre and CAABU (Council for Arab-British Understanding)

Enquiries about Ensemble Zar

To book Ensemble Zar as part of a festival or concert, do feel free to contact us