BBC Arabic World Service and Iraqi Woman’s League/International Women’s Day event

February 24th, 2010 by Khyam | Posted in General | Comments Off

Dear Friends,

My ‘Ud teacher Ehsan Emam and I will be appearing on the BBC Arabic World Service programme Xtra hosted by Liliane Daoud and Lou’ai Ismail on Thursday 4th March 10-11am GMT. You can listen online by clicking here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/arabic/programmes/bbc_extra/

Following that on Saturday 6th March, I will be accompanying a my close friends Nicoletta Demetriou, Maria Rijo, Shahrzad Alonso Djavdan and Elizabeth Nott in performing a selection of Cypriot Greek, Persian and Iraqi songs for an Iraqi Woman’s League event celebrating International Women’s Day. Please go to the performances page for more info.

Hope to see some of you there!

BBC World Routes Academy Blog

February 17th, 2010 by Khyam | Posted in General | Comments Off

Dear friends,

Just a quick note to let you know that my new blog on the BBC Radio 3 website has launched and will be home to my musings on all that surrounds the World Routes Academy mentorship/scholarship which I was recently awarded. Click here or on the link on the right to read the first introductory blog.

There is much being planned for the next few months and beyond so be sure to check back regularly for updates, or sign up to the mailing list and I’ll keep you updated!

Best,
Khyam

Arabian Nights adapted by Dominic Cooke – Royal Shakespeare Company

December 9th, 2009 by Khyam | Posted in General | Comments Off

Dear Friends,

Preview performances have now begun of the new Royal Shakespeare Company production of Arabian Nights. I am performing the ‘Ud with a small group of musicians accompanying the play, the music for which was composed by Gary Yershon.

Performances will continue throughout December until the end of January. If you would like to come and join us in Stratford-Upon-Avon please check the following website for performance dates and information: http://www.rscarabiannights.com/.

See you soon!

Khyam Allami + Ilham al-Madfai + BBC Radio 3 = ???

November 2nd, 2009 by Khyam | Posted in General | Comments Off

Dear Friends,

Following the announcment by BBC Radio 3 at WOMEX last Friday (30th Oct), I can let you all know that I have been chosen as the first recipient of a BBC Radio 3 mentorship/scholarship titled “World Routes Academy”, which revolves around the programme World Routes hosted by Lucy Duran and will see me working with the internationally renowned Iraqi singer Ilham al-Madfai.

This will involve traveling to Amman to work with Ilham al-Madfai and his musicians, recording some music for the BBC and performing at some UK festivals this summer. All of which will be closely followed and documented by World Routes and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

For more information, please visit the following sections of the BBC website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/10_october/30/radio3.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/worldroutesacademy/

Needless to say, I’m very excited at this great opportunity and would like to thank all those involved at the BBC for asking me to be a part of it. More information will be posted here once I have it, but please join the mailing list if you want to be kept up to date.

Thank you!

Stevie Wishart’s Sinfonye live on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune

September 29th, 2009 by Khyam | Posted in General | Comments Off

Dear friends,

This Thursday 1st October at 6pm, Khyam will perform with Stevie Wishart’s group Sinfonye live on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune with Sean Rafferty. They will be performing some of Stevie’s work Transients which will have its UK premier at the Southbank Center the following evening (Friday 2nd October). Tune in!

UPDATE:
If you missed the show, you can listen to it on the BBC iPlayer here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mwb3j until the Thursday 8th October

Interviews with Strange Glue and Al-Hurra (Iraqi TV)

September 25th, 2009 by Khyam | Posted in General | Comments Off

Dear friends,

Part one of the interview with Strange Glue has been published on their website here: http://strangeglue.com/interviews/strange-glue-meets-khyam-allami-part-one

Part two will be published during the coming week, so please check the Strange Glue website: http://strangeglue.com/ Many thanks to David Morris for doing the interview and for being so interested in Music, full stop.

          

A report by Nahar Rama about Khyam Allami will be broadcast on the Iraqi Satellite TV station Al-Hurra on the dates and times below. It features an interview with Khyam and his father Abdulla Sakhi alongside various footage of him performing in London.

Al-Hurra can be viewed live on the internet here:
http://www.alhurra.com/streamingAr.aspx

Al-Hurra Iraq
Programme: 7 Days with Ali Abdel Amir
Saturday 26th September – 19:00 London / 18:00 GMT / 21:00 Baghdad

Al-Hurra Europe
Programme: Al-Youm
Monday 28th September – 17:00 London / 16:00 GMT / 19:00 Baghdad

Many thanks to Nahar Rama and Mahmoud Mushatat for their hard work!

Upcoming shows, Stevie Wishart, Royal Shakespear Company, mailing list

September 17th, 2009 by Khyam | Posted in General | Comments Off

Dear Friends,

With so much going on in the last few months it’s been hard keeping everyone up to date. The Supersonic Festival in Birmingham back in July went far better than I could have imagined, in particular the impromptu ‘Ud solo version of Black Sabbath’s Black Sabbath! A lengthy interview I did at the festival with the Strange Glue webzine will be published soon, possibly serialised as two parts. In the meantime, there are a couple of short reviews on my facebook page here and photos here.

Since then all has been study and preparation for the coming months.

There are a handful of performances coming up in September and October (click here for details), the most exciting of which is the performance with Stevie Wishart and her group Sinfonye at the Southbank in London, which will hopefully be particularly beautiful. We will be performing an as yet unreleased work of her composition titled Transients. I am very exited about it; three female voices, Harp, ‘Ud, Hurdy Gurdy and Percussion… I wish I could make you all hear it now!!!

Beyond these couple of months, I am happy to let you know that I will have a residency with the Royal Shakespeare Company as a live musician in their production of Arabian Nights as part of their 2009/2010 season. We will be performing 8 times a week throughout December and January at their Courtyard Theater in Stratford-Upon-Avon, so there’ll be many chances for you to join us!

Many thanks to all of you again for the continued support. Please join the mailing list (on the right) if you’d like to be informed about future shows and plans. Hope to see some of you at one of the upcoming shows!

Supersonic Festival, Knifeworld & upcoming performances

July 17th, 2009 by Khyam | Posted in General | Comments Off

Dear Friends,

Alongside performing at the Supersonic Festival in Birmingham on Sunday 26th July, I will also be performing on Friday 24th July at the launch event of Simon & Tom Bloor’s Hey for Lubberland! their specially adapted canal boat, utilising geodesic design and dazzle camouflage. Click the link above for more info.

Also, the Knifeworld single “Pissed up on Brake Fluid” was released this week on 7″ vinyl and as download. The album “Buried Alone: Tales of Crushing Defeat” will be released on the 17th of August and a launch gig will take place on the 18th of August at 93 Feet East, Brick Lane, London, right after we record a session for XFM. There is much more Knifeworld news bubbling, will keep you informed as more events are confirmed.

Lastly, there are a handful of other performances coming up, please check the performances page for more details.

Knifeworld single available July 13th 2009, first performance with Beit al-’Ud Ensemble, Supersonic Festival

April 19th, 2009 by Khyam | Posted in General | No Comments »

Dear friends,

Pissed Up on Brake Fluid, the debut single by Knifeworld, a new project led by my dear brother Kavus Torabi in which I play the drum kit, is being released on July 13th (7″ and Download). Check out the myspace page and listen to some tracks from the forthcoming album. It’s awesome! Buy your copy from Genepool as soon as you can!!

In the meantime, things here in Cairo are going great. I’m thrilled to let you all know that today I took part in my first performance alongside ustadh Naseer Shamma and a scaled down Beit al-’Ud ensemble. Photos here.

Also, I have been fully confirmed for this year’s Supersonic Festival in Birmingham (UK) and tickets are on sale now. Full line up and more information can be found at http://www.capsule.org.uk/supersonic/2009/.

All the best from the Victorious City!

Goodbye London, hello Cairo!

February 5th, 2009 by Khyam | Posted in General | No Comments »

Dear friends,

Some exciting news to share with you all. I’m pleased to let you all know that following a research grant award from the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, in a couple of weeks I will be in Cairo, Egypt to study at Beit Al-’Ud al-’Arabi (the Arab Oud House) with the Iraqi virtuoso and ’Ud maestro Naseer Shamma. This is the first part of my Masters research project into the Baghdadi ‘Ud School, its influences and devlopment which I am undertaking at SOAS over the next 2 years. My trip will hopefully last around 3 months and will undoubtedly be a superb experience. Cannot wait!

Following this there is a great chance that soon after my return we will see the release of the debut single and album by Knife World, a project led by my dear friend Kavus Torabi in which I play Drums. More news as it comes in.

And finally, I have been asked and confirmed to play at this year’s Supersonic festival which will take place on the weekend of the 24th-26th July in Birmingham. Needless to say that I am sincerely excited about this opportunity to perform at such a forward thinking and artistic festival and absolutely cannot wait. A huge thanks is due to the Capsule girls for the invitation. More details will be posted as soon as they come in.

Thanks to you all for your interest and support,
See you all soon!