This performance brings together composer and sound designer Nicolas Baviere and oud player Tarek Elazhary in a collaborative exploration of sound, memory, and identity. Though rooted in different musical worlds, electronic composition and traditional Arabic music, their connection is shaped by friendship, a shared cultural heritage, and their lives in London.
The project emerged through Nicolas’s residency with Hazaz, and was developed with the support of creative producer Yara Alhusaini. Through workshops and exchanges, the artists built a common musical language, blending oud, electronics, and sound design. Tarek introduced Nicolas to Arabic maqams and rhythms, while Nicolas shared his approach to electronic music, creating a dynamic dialogue between tradition and experimentation.
The result is a 45-minute piece in three movements, each following an emotional arc inspired by their experience as part of the diaspora. The music moves from warmth and connection to rupture and shock, reflecting the ongoing tragedies in the Middle East, particularly in Palestine and Lebanon, before descending into a suspended, suffocating stillness.
With each movement intensifying, the performance unfolds as a sonic narrative, an attempt to process distance, grief, and belonging through sound.
At its core, this work is both deeply personal and collective: a story told through music, and an invitation to listen, feel, and connect.
Nicolas Baviere & Tarek Elazhary
Sound Bites from the Performance
Contact: tarekelazhari@gmail.com
IG: @tarekelazhary
Tarek Elazhary is an Egyptian oud player and composer whose music bridges Arabic tradition with contemporary expression. Blending deep-rooted heritage and experimentation, he creates emotive, cross-cultural soundscapes. Tarek has performed at festivals including WOMAD, Shambala, OneBeat, Tarantella Power, and MDLBEAST, and at the Royal Albert Hall with the London Arab Orchestra. In 2016, he founded Dokkan, a project blending Egyptian and Arabic music with contemporary instrumentation. His recent collaboration with British musician Tamsin Elliott resulted in the acclaimed album So Far We Have Come, exploring connections between Egyptian and English folk music.Tarek has taught oud at institutions like the Arabic Oud House, Al-Darb Al-Ahmar Arts School, and the German University in Cairo. passing on his expertise through years of teaching.
Contact: nicolas.baviere.filmcomp@gmail.com
IG: @one_eyed_hound
As a visual media composer and sound designer, Nicolas Baviere has developed a style rooted in sound experimentation, manipulating everything from synthesisers to orchestras to create unique sonic experiences. Blending sound design and composition techniques, he blurs diegetic and nondiegetic elements, crafting immersive soundscapes that enhance visual storytelling. With a foundational background in Electronic Music Production from Catalyst in Berlin and a Master’s in Composition for Film and TV from London College of Music, he actively composes for film, theatre, art installations, and cinematic music performances, namely for The Place London, Camden’s People Theatre, recently Cannes Festival through the Straight 8 Competition, for the director Larissa Sansour and as a resident artist for the London based events Hazaz.