Marwan Abado
was born into a Christian Palestinian family in a refugee camp in Beirut (Lebanon). In 1985, Abado fled the civil war zone to Austria and continued his musical training here with the Iraqi Oud master Asim Chalabi. In Vienna he found a new home as a musician, singer, composer and poet. Abado's instrument, the Oud (Oriental short-necked lute), has a similar importance in Arabic music as the piano does in Western culture.

His compositions are based on the classic form of representation of Arabic music, TAQ'SIM, which is not subject to any temporal laws and is based on the musician's inner impulses. Emotional texts (from his own pen or from other contemporary Arabic poets) place Abado's compositions in a poetic context. Marwan Abado is one of those musicians who prove that Austria, a music country, is rich in inspiration and encounters.

Dima Orsho
Culturally nuanced, Dima Orsho's music combines influences from classical to jazz to Middle Eastern music. Her musical performances are constantly evolving and becoming more and more sophisticated. In Mülheim and Münster, Dima Orsho returns to her origins in the multi-ethnic music of Syria and sets out with her trio on the trail of the music of the Eastern Mediterranean, Kurdistan, Armenia and Iran. Own compositions are just as much a part of the program as new arrangements of traditional melodies and songs.

Dima Orsho (born 1975 in Damascus) is a trained opera singer (Boston Conservatory) and clarinetist (Damskus High Institute of Music). The Hamburger Abendblatt once described her singing as “the most beautiful thing human vocal cords can produce.” Dima Orsho, born in Syria, lives in the USA and at home in the world, is a solitary figure in the international music scene and a musical crosser par excellence. Perhaps the fascination of her music is due to the fact that she not only studied singing but also the clarinet and can bring the sensitivity of an instrumentalist to her singing, which adds to the magic of her performances.