The renowned global virtuoso of the oud instrument, Joseph Tawadros, will perform a concert tonight at 9:00 PM in the church St. Sophia as part of the musical program of the ‘Ohrid Summer’ festival. His own compositions will be featured in the repertoire.
Tawadros is a leading virtuoso of the oud instrument, a composer, and a recipient of seven ‘ARIA’ awards given by representatives of the music industry in Australia. He was born in Cairo, and his instrumental specialization is the oud, a type of Arabic lute that served as a precursor to the lute and the modern guitar.
A virtuoso in the truest sense of the word, not only in terms of his technical abilities but also in his diversity and sensitivity, Tawadros performs in concert halls around the world, pushing the boundaries of musical performance and sharing the stage with numerous performers in interpretations of innovative, original music. He performs as a soloist or in a duo with his brother James on Egyptian percussion, as well as with his jazz quartet or as a soloist with chamber and symphony orchestras.
Until now, he has performed his own compositions with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, the Camerata Salzburg, and his Concerto for Ud and Symphony Orchestra, performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, was released by ABC Classics in 2019. He is the first and only Australian musician whose work has been performed by the Academy of Ancient Music in the United Kingdom. He has recorded music with numerous jazz musicians: John Abercrombie, Roy Hargrove, Jack DeJohnette, Bela Fleck, Mike Stern, Joey DeFrancesco, Richard Bona, and Christian McBride. In the world of classical music, his collaborations stand out with Richard Tognetti, William Barton, the Grigorian Brothers, Christian Lindberg, and Andreas Scholl. His performances can be heard in several film and television productions. This year, Tawadros performed at the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos, and his piece ‘Three Stages of Retrospective’ will be premiered by the Britten Sinfonia in England. Tawadros was selected to be one of the 50 composers to write a fanfare in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House. In 2016, Joseph Tawadros was awarded the Order of Australia for his contributions to music.