Nawras Altaky

Touched deeply 

Music can sometimes touch you so profoundly that you burst into tears on the spot. That overcame double bass player Lucas Dols (formerly Room Eleven) as he sat listening to Nawras Altaky at the Parade.

This young singer and oud player from Syria, who fled his homeland during the civil war, was himself overwhelmed by the emotional reactions to his very first ‘performance’ in the Netherlands when, somewhat lost at a party, surrounded by total strangers, he spotted a keyboard and spontaneously started to sing a song from his youth.

Heart on his sleeve 

Today, Nawras and Lucas are not only close friends but they also form the core of the quartet Dyar (Arabic for ‘home’). The once rather reserved Nawras, who discovered how a singer can wear his heart on his sleeve and be understood everywhere despite all the language barriers, has already dazzled alongside Caro Emerald in Paradiso and played, without official permission, for and with young refugees in Camp Moria.

For Music Meeting he put together a special ensemble featuring Dyar and some musician friends. They include the one and only Oene van Geel on viola, who made new arrangements of a number of Altaky’s compositions specially for this line-up. 

Discover more! 

Get to know Nawras by checking out the Music Meeting Concert with his special ensemble featuring Dyar and some musician friends and the Music Meetup Podcast and Music Meeting Session with Fuensanta.