in one sentence...
Alaa Zouiten is a Moroccan-German oud player, composer and curator of various musical fusion projects and festivals.
Alaa Zouiten is a Moroccan-German oud player, composer and curator of various musical fusion projects and festivals.
in one paragraph...
Alaa Zouiten was born in Casablanca, Morocco. There he began his musical career as a master on the oud. Carrying the heritage of both classical Arabic music and traditional Moroccan music, Alaa has found a home in the metropolis of Berlin. Working with musicians from diverse backgrounds, he has made it his mission to create a modern soundscape inspired by all the world's musical traditions, where there is no hierarchy of styles or cultures. The oud speaks different musical languages and only the beauty of the music counts!
Alaa Zouiten was born in Casablanca, Morocco. There he began his musical career as a master on the oud. Carrying the heritage of both classical Arabic music and traditional Moroccan music, Alaa has found a home in the metropolis of Berlin. Working with musicians from diverse backgrounds, he has made it his mission to create a modern soundscape inspired by all the world's musical traditions, where there is no hierarchy of styles or cultures. The oud speaks different musical languages and only the beauty of the music counts!
detailed vitae...
Alaa Zouiten was born in Morocco in 1985. There he started his musical career as a master on the oud, the Arabic lute, and led from his education at the Conservatoire National de Marrakech to the sideman of the fusion band "Jbara". In parallel, he continued his musical studies and completed a Bachelor's degree in Music Education and Philosophy at the University of Erfurt in 2013. This was followed by a master's degree in Transcultural Music Studies at the Franz Liszt Hochschule für Musik in Weimar, where he was also a guest lecturer in 2015/16.
In May 2012, Alaa released his debut album "Hada Makan" with talented musicians from Thuringia, each of whom has individual and very personal things to contribute to his music. These musicians formed around Alaa Zouiten under the name Alaa Zouiten Ensemble to bring his music to the next level together.
With a grant from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, Alaa Zouiten worked on his second album Talking Oud in 2015. In this album he experimented with the stylistic technical and aesthetic possibilities of the oud. The result was a fascinating mix of Arabic-andalusian and jazz-rock.
In his compositions and arrangements, Alaa creates a modern sound world inspired by all musical traditions of the world, where there is no hierarchy of styles or cultures. The oud speaks different musical languages and only the beauty of the music counts! This potential is the basis for Alaa Zouiten's collaboration with top-class musicians in very different fusion projects of musically cosmopolitan Berlin.
Alaa is also curator of various transcultural music projects and events such as the GNAOUA FESTIVAL BERLIN (2018&2019 at the ex-"Werkstatt der Kulturen Berlin"), the concert series ARAB SONG JAM (since 2017) as well as "ZOUITEN&FRIENDS" @ Berlin Mondiale (since 2020).
Other important highlights of Alaa Zouitens career are musical direction and performance with "Global Arabian Music Orchestra" at Berlin Philharmonic Hall, performance at Festival Jazz au Chellah - Rabat (2014 and 2019), Bienal del Flamenco in Seville (Sept 2020) with "AFICIONADO - Flamenco Moro", tours of "TALKING OUD 2020/2021" in France, Germany, Spain and Morocco and UK tour with "Making Tracks 2022".
Alaa Zouiten was born in Morocco in 1985. There he started his musical career as a master on the oud, the Arabic lute, and led from his education at the Conservatoire National de Marrakech to the sideman of the fusion band "Jbara". In parallel, he continued his musical studies and completed a Bachelor's degree in Music Education and Philosophy at the University of Erfurt in 2013. This was followed by a master's degree in Transcultural Music Studies at the Franz Liszt Hochschule für Musik in Weimar, where he was also a guest lecturer in 2015/16.
In May 2012, Alaa released his debut album "Hada Makan" with talented musicians from Thuringia, each of whom has individual and very personal things to contribute to his music. These musicians formed around Alaa Zouiten under the name Alaa Zouiten Ensemble to bring his music to the next level together.
With a grant from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, Alaa Zouiten worked on his second album Talking Oud in 2015. In this album he experimented with the stylistic technical and aesthetic possibilities of the oud. The result was a fascinating mix of Arabic-andalusian and jazz-rock.
In his compositions and arrangements, Alaa creates a modern sound world inspired by all musical traditions of the world, where there is no hierarchy of styles or cultures. The oud speaks different musical languages and only the beauty of the music counts! This potential is the basis for Alaa Zouiten's collaboration with top-class musicians in very different fusion projects of musically cosmopolitan Berlin.
Alaa is also curator of various transcultural music projects and events such as the GNAOUA FESTIVAL BERLIN (2018&2019 at the ex-"Werkstatt der Kulturen Berlin"), the concert series ARAB SONG JAM (since 2017) as well as "ZOUITEN&FRIENDS" @ Berlin Mondiale (since 2020).
Other important highlights of Alaa Zouitens career are musical direction and performance with "Global Arabian Music Orchestra" at Berlin Philharmonic Hall, performance at Festival Jazz au Chellah - Rabat (2014 and 2019), Bienal del Flamenco in Seville (Sept 2020) with "AFICIONADO - Flamenco Moro", tours of "TALKING OUD 2020/2021" in France, Germany, Spain and Morocco and UK tour with "Making Tracks 2022".
