Biography
The name Lagash comes from a southern Mesopotamian town and was chosen as a homage to this five-thousand-year-old Sumerian culture. Led by composer Saad Thamir, this chamber-music ensemble features Thamir on percussion and vocals, Bassem Hawar on djoze, Christina Fuchs on clarinet and bass clarinet and Jarry Singla on piano. Much of the music's richness is drawn from the centuries-old Maqam tradition, a melodic system in classical Arabic music that is based on specific note combinations. As in Western music traditions from Baroque to jazz, the music of Lagash contains composed as well as improvised elements.
Thamir and Hawar are originally from Iraq, where they taught composition, piano and violin at the Baghdad Institute of Fine Arts. In exile, they joined forces with Fuchs and Singla, award-winning musicians in Germany.
This person was part of Sharjah Biennial 11