Nawras Altaky solo

He plays the oud – the Arabic lute – sings and composes. Nawras Altaky is one of the most fascinating musicians working in the Netherlands today. This season he joins Dag in de Branding as artist-in-residence, opening his residency with a solo recital at the Paleiskerk.

In his compositions, Altaky seeks not so much a fusion of styles as a new musical grammar, one in which Arabic maqam, jazz harmony, improvisation and contemporary compositional techniques inflect one another. In his recent project Arise! – A Journey of Resilience, he ties this language to his own experience as a refugee who left Syria for the Netherlands: displacement, hope and human connection run through everything he writes. Altaky was Utrecht’s city composer in 2025 and has held a residency as part of the Bimhuis’s REFLEX series.