Maya Youssef مايا يوسف

Hailed as ‘queen of the qanun’, Maya Youssef is a globally renowned, and award-winning qanun player and composer from Syria. In 2012, Maya arrived in the UK under Tier 1 visa and was endorsed by Arts Council of England as an Exceptional Talent. Since then, Maya have pushed the boundaries of the qanun (a 78 stringed plucked zither traditionally played by men) and performed in South Bank, BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, The Barbican, Shakespeare Globe and WOMAD. She collaborated with British cultural Icons like Damon Albarn (Blur/Gorillaz) and recorded for ‘The Beatles & India' documentary in Abbey Road Studios. Her debut album Syrian Dreams (a prayer for peace) was produced by the esteemed Joe Boyd (Nick Drake) and released by Harmonia Mundi. The album received critical acclaim from the media. “Exquisite...a powerful homage, twists Arabic music cliches'', The Guardian. “An album of skill and power...a dizzying sweep of genres from flamenco to jazz. A transportive cinematic listen” The Musician Magazine (The MU). Syrian Dreams won the German Record Critics' Award and Songlines Music Award. This led to many UK and international sold-out concerts. Maya has recently won the PRS Women Make Music Grant and Arts Council Project for the Arts funding towards recording her second album ‘Finding Home’.