WOMAD

Khyam Allami

From Iraq, United Kingdom

Khyam Allami is a young and active London based musician of Iraqi descent. Born to an Iraqi family in Damascus, Syria, in 1981 and brought up in London from the age of 9, his passion for music began in Syria at the tender age of 8 in preparation for the role of a young violinist in the art-house film Al-Tahaleb directed by Rimon Butrus (1991).
From the Violin his interests moved towards Rock and in 1996 began to play Drums and Bass Guitar with two groups Ursa and Art of Burning Water. In 2004 his interests took a turn once again and he began to study the '?d (or Oud; Arabic Lute), Arabic music theory and traditional Iraqi repertoire with the London based Iraqi maestro Ehsan Emam, with who he continues to study today.
After graduating with a BA Honours in Music Studies (Ethnomusicology) from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London in June 2008, Khyam was awarded a SOAS scholarship to continue his studies for an MMus in Performance as Research. His practical, performance based masters research focuses on the Iraqi '?d school, its influences and development, those being the Turkish and Egyptian '?d schools alongside the classical and folk music of Iraq. In January 2009 Khyam was awarded a research grant by the British Institute for the Study of Iraq (BISI) to travel to Cairo, Egypt and study the '?d with the Iraqi virtuoso Naseer Shamma at Beit al-'Ud al- 'Arabi (Arab Oud House). During this visit he also studied the compositions of the legendary Egyptian violinist/composer Abdo Dagher with the composer himself, alongside Egyptian repertoire and technique with the young Egyptian virtuoso Hazem Shaheen. This was followed by a trip to Istanbul in April 2010 to study Turkish '?d with the maestro Mehmet Bitmez.
His other activities include performances in Baku, Azerbaijan (June 2008) with the Sabina Rakcheyeva Trio broadcast on national Azeri televeision (AZTV), a solo '?d session for BBC Radio 3's World Routes (August 2008) and many performances across the UK including St Paul's Cathedral, the British Museum, the Muslim Music Festival in Oxford, the first Iraqi Cultural Festival in London, the experimental/rock music festival Supersonic in Birmingham. In December 2009 he also worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company in a two month long run production of Arabian Nights at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford- Upon-Avon.
In 2010 Khyam was the first recipient of the BBC Radio 3 World Routes Academy scholarship/mentorship. This is a new initiative by BBC R3 named after its flagship programme, aims to support and inspire young world music artists by bringing them together with an internationally renowned artist in the same field. In its first year, the WRA focuses on Iraq and gives Khyam the opportunity to work with the renowned Iraqi singer Ilham al-Madfai and will culminate with a concert as part of the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London, which will be broadcast live on BBC R3.
Alongside this fantastic opportunity, Khyam was asked to curate an afternoon of events focusing on Iraqi culture as part of London Refugee Week's Celebrating Sanctuary Festival, and will be performing at the WOMAD festival in the UK. Meanwhile Khyam is working on original compositions, that lean more towards the contemporary as opposed to tradition, under the artistic influence of Frank Zappa, Abdo Dagher, King Crimson, Secret Chiefs 3, Hossein Alizade, Riyad Al-Sunbati, Philip Glass, Naseer Shamma, Jaz Coleman and many others.
(Biography supplied by artist 2010)

www.khyamallami.com

Khyam Allami & Andrea Piccioni - Sound Of Disquiet

Khyam Allami's » Myspace Page