By Madar Ensemble

“In orbit, you’re keyed up and aware of everything going on, every little noise, anything that may have special meaning because of where you are.”
John Glenn

Madar (literally, “an orbit”) is the fruit of the musical friendship between Palestinian oud player Nizar Rohana and Dutch bassist Tony Overwater. They invited three prominent musicians from the Arab world and the Netherlands to join them: Dutch clarinetist Maarten Ornstein, Tunisian violinist and viola d’amore player Jasser Haj Youssef, and the Jordanian percussionist Nasser Salameh. With genuine curiosity about and understanding of each other’s musical language, they have come together in order to create something new, built on a deeply shared respect for the qualities of their various musical worlds.
Acamar, from the Arabic Ākhir an-nahr meaning “the end of the river,” is a star located in the constellation Eridanus, variously associated by ancient astronomers with rivers across the Mediterranean and Middle East, including the Nile, the Po, and the Euphrates. The music in this album is inspired by the classical civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean which relied in daily life on an understanding of the cosmos.

The album was produced by Kepera Records and is internationally distributed by Challenge Records. It was supported by The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC).
Acamar was released on May 10, 2019 and is available in music stores worldwide and on leading digital platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. The album’s title piece is also available on video through the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g64cF84ebgk.
For more information, contact Nizar Rohana at info@nizarrohana.com.