To attend this concert in person: click here to reserve your seat.
This page is to watch and listen to this FUNDRAISING EVENT promoted by SISTER MIDNIGHT on an OPEN DOOR BASIS: Instead of fixed price tickets, the performance is supported by donations (we suggest £15.00 but you can change that from £0.00 to £50.00 or more) Attendees have the opportunity to contribute an amount that reflects both their support for ELSC in GAZA and their financial capacity. The policy is a more inclusive and supportive for the artists who give their time and work for the cause and for the audience members. This approach recognizes the priceless value of art and empowers individuals to actively support the artists' project. It recognizes the need for money while removing financial barriers and it aims to foster a sense of shared responsibility in sustaining creative work..
Saied Silbak
Saied Silbak is a Palestinian composer and oud player born in Shafaa`mr, a city located in the lower Galilee of occupied Palestine. He began training in classical piano at the age of four, before moving onto the oud in his early teens in order to delve deep into the nuances at the base of Arabic music.
Silbak went on to train at the Beit Almusica Conservatoire where he later taught, before studying Music and Psychology at the university of Haifa and then completing his Masters at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he is currently based.
He has a unique understanding of different types of music, from Arabic, Turkish and Indian to classical Western styles. Silbak’s signature sound, created through his artful ability to fuse these styles together, has seen him perform around the world at festivals and concert series in the UK, Belgium, France, Palestine, Morocco, Argentina and beyond.
Fred Thomas
Fred Thomas is one of London’s most sought-after multi-instrumentalists and composer/ arranger/producers, known for his breadth of musical styles as well as for specialising in creative re-interpretations of J.S. Bach. He is an ECM artist and has appeared all over the world, performing in venues such as Berlin Philarmonic, Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Wiener Konzerthaus. Fred’s ECM debut as a leader came on the New Series with Three or One (2021), 24 pieces by Bach transcribed for trio and solo piano by Fred himself, released to great critical acclaim. The album was described as “a revelation” (Apple Music), “mesmerising” (BBC Music Magazine) and “a world of soulful dreaming that enraptures with its poetic images” (Das Bach Magazin). Fred had previously appeared as sideman on the ECM albums Lost Ships (2020) and A Time to Remember (2023), with Elina Duni, Rob Luft and Matthieu Michel. Of British and Argentinian heritage, Fred has collaborated with a huge variety of artists across many genres, including Brian Eno, Yo-Yo Ma, Hilary Hahn, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Jordi Savall, Meredith Monk, Jarvis Cocker, Lianne Le Havas, Ethan Iverson, Benoit Delbecq, Jorge Rossy, Olivia Chaney and Kees Boeke. With a discography of over fifty albums, his arrangements and transcriptions are published by Edition Wilhelm Hansen and he works regularly as Musical Director at Shakespeare’s Globe. As a producer, Fred’s work includes the highly-lauded debut album from cellist Abel Selaocoe, ‘Where is Home’ (Warner Classics, 2022) as well as Abel’s next album, and his compositions have been performed internationally and at the Royal Opera House, London. “A boundary-blurring composer and improviser” - Gramophone Magazine | “An astonishingly fine musician” - The Arts Desk | “Remarkable” - International Piano Magazine www.fred-thomas.co.uk
and with Zia Ahmed
Zia Ahmed is a poet and writer hailing from North-West London. He is part of the London Laureates, having been shortlisted for London’s Young Poet Laureate 2015/16. He is a former Roundhouse Slam Champion and a Writer in Residence at Paines Plough as part of Channel 4’s Playwright Scheme 2017. In 2018 he was chosen to be a part of the Bush Theatre's Emerging Writers Group.
In 2019, Zia’s stage debut I WANNA BE YOURS premiered at the Bush Theatre. Zia's latest project, PEACEOPHOBIA, was performed at venues in Manchester and Bradford in 2021. Described as "part theatre, part car-meet", the show was developed with Bradford-based performances, drawing from their experiences and love of automobiles to explore the realities of being a Muslim Man in Britain today.
Zia has also written for MY WHITE BEST FRIEND, was part of the writers room for the first series of WE ARE LADY PARTS, and is currently under commission with the Royal Court and the Bush Theatre.
To attend this concert in person: click here to reserve your seat.
This page is to watch and listen to this FUNDRAISING EVENT promoted by SISTER MIDNIGHT on an OPEN DOOR BASIS: Instead of fixed price tickets, the performance is supported by donations (we suggest £15.00 but you can change that from £0.00 to £50.00 or more) Attendees have the opportunity to contribute an amount that reflects both their support for ELSC in GAZA and their financial capacity. The policy is a more inclusive and supportive for the artists who give their time and work for the cause and for the audience members. This approach recognizes the priceless value of art and empowers individuals to actively support the artists' project. It recognizes the need for money while removing financial barriers and it aims to foster a sense of shared responsibility in sustaining creative work..
Saied Silbak
Saied Silbak is a Palestinian composer and oud player born in Shafaa`mr, a city located in the lower Galilee of occupied Palestine. He began training in classical piano at the age of four, before moving onto the oud in his early teens in order to delve deep into the nuances at the base of Arabic music.
Silbak went on to train at the Beit Almusica Conservatoire where he later taught, before studying Music and Psychology at the university of Haifa and then completing his Masters at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he is currently based.
He has a unique understanding of different types of music, from Arabic, Turkish and Indian to classical Western styles. Silbak’s signature sound, created through his artful ability to fuse these styles together, has seen him perform around the world at festivals and concert series in the UK, Belgium, France, Palestine, Morocco, Argentina and beyond.
Fred Thomas
Fred Thomas is one of London’s most sought-after multi-instrumentalists and composer/ arranger/producers, known for his breadth of musical styles as well as for specialising in creative re-interpretations of J.S. Bach. He is an ECM artist and has appeared all over the world, performing in venues such as Berlin Philarmonic, Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Wiener Konzerthaus. Fred’s ECM debut as a leader came on the New Series with Three or One (2021), 24 pieces by Bach transcribed for trio and solo piano by Fred himself, released to great critical acclaim. The album was described as “a revelation” (Apple Music), “mesmerising” (BBC Music Magazine) and “a world of soulful dreaming that enraptures with its poetic images” (Das Bach Magazin). Fred had previously appeared as sideman on the ECM albums Lost Ships (2020) and A Time to Remember (2023), with Elina Duni, Rob Luft and Matthieu Michel. Of British and Argentinian heritage, Fred has collaborated with a huge variety of artists across many genres, including Brian Eno, Yo-Yo Ma, Hilary Hahn, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Jordi Savall, Meredith Monk, Jarvis Cocker, Lianne Le Havas, Ethan Iverson, Benoit Delbecq, Jorge Rossy, Olivia Chaney and Kees Boeke. With a discography of over fifty albums, his arrangements and transcriptions are published by Edition Wilhelm Hansen and he works regularly as Musical Director at Shakespeare’s Globe. As a producer, Fred’s work includes the highly-lauded debut album from cellist Abel Selaocoe, ‘Where is Home’ (Warner Classics, 2022) as well as Abel’s next album, and his compositions have been performed internationally and at the Royal Opera House, London. “A boundary-blurring composer and improviser” - Gramophone Magazine | “An astonishingly fine musician” - The Arts Desk | “Remarkable” - International Piano Magazine www.fred-thomas.co.uk
and with Zia Ahmed
Zia Ahmed is a poet and writer hailing from North-West London. He is part of the London Laureates, having been shortlisted for London’s Young Poet Laureate 2015/16. He is a former Roundhouse Slam Champion and a Writer in Residence at Paines Plough as part of Channel 4’s Playwright Scheme 2017. In 2018 he was chosen to be a part of the Bush Theatre's Emerging Writers Group.
In 2019, Zia’s stage debut I WANNA BE YOURS premiered at the Bush Theatre. Zia's latest project, PEACEOPHOBIA, was performed at venues in Manchester and Bradford in 2021. Described as "part theatre, part car-meet", the show was developed with Bradford-based performances, drawing from their experiences and love of automobiles to explore the realities of being a Muslim Man in Britain today.
Zia has also written for MY WHITE BEST FRIEND, was part of the writers room for the first series of WE ARE LADY PARTS, and is currently under commission with the Royal Court and the Bush Theatre.