Musicians

Shalan Alhamwy

Syrian/Belgian violinist and composer. Studied Western classical music and Arabic music at the Conservatory of Damascus, and later Turkish music at Codarts University of Arts. Shalan masters those genres playing and composing. He wrote and arranged music for a plenty of orchestras, ensembles, singers, films and TV shows.
Plays among others with GFVP (Gent Folk Violin Project), Olla vogala, EPO (Expat Philharmonic Orchestra) and Damast Duo.
Former member of: The Syrian National Symphony Orchestra, The National Orchestra of Arabic Music and Damascus Chamber Orchestra.

Maher Mahmoud

Syrian composer and oudist, lives in Denmark. Studied both classical Arabic and Western music in The Higher Institute of Music in Damascus.
Composes and arranges music for a wide variety of settings and ensembles. He is involved in world music and discovering new sounds on the oud and additionally, experimenting with different styles of contemporary music.
Worked with different bands and artists in Denmark, UK and around Europe – among others are Damon Albarn and Brian Eno, Dunia Ensemble, Grænseløs, Dicte, JSO Bremen-Nord Philharmonic Orchestra, RUM, Blood-Sweat-Drum & Bass big band, S. Møller Big Band, Aarhus Jazz Orchestra, Listen! Trio, Nouri Iskandar String Quartet and Li Dine and The Syrian Expat Ensemble.

Jonas Malfliet

Belgian musician and composer, plays a wide range of musical styles on piano and accordion. Since leaving his law practice behind, he has toured Europe, China, Congo, and South-Africa with world music orchestras such as Les Busiciens, Olla Vogala, and Transpiradansa. He has also been involved in various theatre productions as a multi-instrumentalist and actor.
Plays with Damast Duo, BlindeVink and is resident pianist on Radio 2’s satiric programme “De Rechtvaardige Rechters”.
He also is a certified Soundpainter and an experienced music teacher (Ethno, AKDT, Muziekpublique).

Lucie Lelaurain

Born in 1994 in Auvergne Lucie was fascinated from childhood by traditional Auvergne music, and began to learn music at the age of 8 with the transverse flute. After obtaining her bachelor degree at the Music Halle conservatory she went to Istanbul and lived there for two years to further immerse herself in the world of Modal music and to learn the duduk. She is currently studying at Codarts University of Arts.

Damla Aydin

Damla started playing music when she was 10 years old. She studied Turkish and classical western classical music at Istanbul Technical University Turkish Music State Conservatory (ITU). She specializes in cello and also plays piano. Her playing illustrates a deep understanding of the history and feeling of the Turkish maqam music tadition.

She has been teaching piano, cello and Turkish music for over 10 years, and she plays in several orchestras and in Turkey and in Belgium.

Mohamad Al-Douri

Violinist and violin teacher, started his career in Iraq, his motherland, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in music from Baghdad University. He worked as a violin teacher at Institute Music Art Centre for Peace and at the Music and Ballet School of Baghdad for several years. He was a violin player at Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, and he worked as a free lance teacher for both Arabic and Classical music.
Afterwards he obtained his master’s degree – Violin Soloist at the Royal Conservatory of Liège. Mohamad plays in many groups and ensembles and gives regularly masterclasses and workshops.