EUROPE OUD QUARTET

Bacem Yousfi
Oud

Somar Al Nasser
Oud

Mohamed Abozekry
Oud

Abdallah Abozekry
Saz

Bacem Yousfi

Bacem Yousfi has been playing the oud since the age of eleven. His teachers included Walid Nammouchi and Naseer Shamma at the Oud House Cairo, where he taught for two years. With Naseer Shamma he performed in various ensembles in Paris, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Tunis, Berlin, and Barcelona, among others. Since 2008 Bacem Yousfi lives in France, where he studied musicology in Lyon and Paris.

Abdallah Abozekry

Abdallah Abozekry is an Egyptian saz player, music producer, and composer from Cairo. He graduated from the Oud House in his hometown in 2010. Since relocating to Paris in 2015, he has collaborated with artists from various backgrounds, including Sophie Alour and Joce Miennel. In 2018, he formed the Trio Abozekrys together with his brother, oud player Mohamed Abozekry, and French drummer Nicolas Thé. He also performs in the duo project Zamakan with French guitarist Baptiste Ferrandis.

Mohamed Abozekry

Born in Cairo in 1991, Mohamed Abozekry began playing the oud at the age of 11. After studying with Naseer Shamma at the Arab Oud House in his hometown for four years, he continued his education with Hazem Shaheen and Nehad El Sayed. Moving to France at the age of 18, he studied Musicology, Applied Music for Visual Arts, and Film Scoring at Lyon University. He has written film scores for several projects, including the anthology film 18 Days, which premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, and the short film N’sibi. He has worked with various artists in a broad variety of musical formations, among them the group Heejaz, the “Sufi project” influenced by the traditional and classical music of Egypt, and the Trio Abozekrys with his brother Abdallah Abozekry and Nicolas Thé, who released their album Don’t Replace Me by a Machine in 2018. He currently works on his debut album as a singer / songwriter.

Somar Al Nasser

Born in Homs, Syria, Somar Al Nasser on oud and buzuki at the Conservatory and the Oud House in Cairo. Today he lives in France and performs traditional repertoire as well as jazz.

Lorca Sbeity

Lorca Sbeity works as a poet, writer, and journalist. She has published poetry, children’s books, and articles on political and cultural issues in a variety of outlets. Her books of poetry include You Are Mine Now, You Are Free (2004), Nothing but Insomnia (2014), and most recently This Is All Before You. Her children’s book Two Homes Instead of One was named Best Children’s Book at the 2017 Etisalat Awards at the Sharjah Book Fair.