# Hewar > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hewar > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hewar.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewar > Source revision: 1292860806 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Jazz fusion band from Syria}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Hewar | image =CD Letters to a homeland by Hewar (Syrian world music group).jpg | image_size = | image_upright = | landscape = | alt = | caption =CD Letters to a homeland, 2012 | alias = | origin = [Damascus](/source/Damascus), Syria | genre = [Jazz fusion](/source/Jazz_fusion) | years_active = {{start date|2003}}–present | label = Incognito, Dreyer Gaido | current_members = * [Kinan Azmeh](/source/Kinan_Azmeh) * [Dima Orsho](/source/Dima_Orsho) * [Issam Rafea](/source/Issam_Rafea) | website = | past_members = }} '''Hewar''' ({{langx|ar|حوار}} "Dialogue") is a [jazz fusion](/source/jazz_fusion) band from [Syria](/source/Syria), formed in 2003. The band and its members are mainly known for their three CDs and concerts in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the US. Further, founding members [Kinan Azmeh](/source/Kinan_Azmeh), [Dima Orsho](/source/Dima_Orsho) and [Issam Rafea](/source/Issam_Rafea) have performed and recorded their compositions inspired by Western and Arabic traditions as well as jazz influences with other Middle Eastern and European musicians. == History == Hewar was founded in 2003 by Syrian [clarinetist](/source/Clarinet) Kinan Azmeh and oud player Issam Rafea. Having graduated from the [Higher Institute for Music](/source/Higher_Institute_of_Music_in_Damascus) in [Damascus](/source/Damascus), they later became members of the [Syrian National Symphony Orchestra](/source/Syrian_National_Symphony_Orchestra), playing Western and [Arabic classical music](/source/Arabic_music). As they also enjoyed international jazz and pop music, they decided to compose their own music, blending influences from their West-Eastern training with [musical improvisation](/source/musical_improvisation). Initially, Hewar included Badi Rafea on [percussion](/source/Percussion_instrument), Simone Mreysh on drums and Khaled Omran on double bass. Dima Orsho, a soprano singer who had studied [opera](/source/opera) singing at the Damascus conservatory and later in the [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands), joined the band adding her ability to sing both in Arabic, opera and jazz styles.{{Cite web |last=Reusch |first=Wera |date=2004-04-27 |title=Syria: Oriental Jazz with a Touch of Classical Music |url=https://qantara.de/en/article/syria-oriental-jazz-touch-classical-music |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=qantara.de |language=en}} Their first public concert took place in September 2003 in the Orthodox al-Zaytun church in the historical quarter of Damascus for an audience of 1,500 people.{{Cite web |date=October 2014 |title=Musical Performance: Syrian Trio "Hewar" in Concert at Alwan |url=https://www.aaartsalliance.org/events/musical-performance-syrian-trio-hewar-in-concert-at-alwan |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Asian American Arts Alliance |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=ᐈ Hewar biography and work |url=https://muzlan.top/artist/Hewar |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Muzlan |language=en}} {{Blockquote|text=What we create is not Arabic music, but it's not classical music either. It is a mixture of everything we like listening to and what we feel musically reflects our everyday lives. I've spent my life studying western classical music, but I live here, in Syria, where Arabic music is played everywhere. So of course it automatically flows into my improvisations.|author=Kinan Azmeh, Syrian-American musician}} In 2004, Hewar performed in 10 cities in the US, including the [Kennedy Center](/source/John_F._Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts) and [MIT](/source/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology) campus. During later years, they played in France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Lebanon, Egypt and in German concert halls such as the [Elbphilharmonie](/source/Elbphilharmonie) Hamburg.{{Cite web |date=2018-03-29 |title=The Gurdjieff Ensemble & Hewar |url=https://www.elbphilharmonie.de/en/archive/the-gurdjieff-ensemble-hewar/7714 |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=www.elbphilharmonie.de |language=en}} Their first CD ''Hewar'' was published by the Lebanese Incognito label the following year, with further albums by the German publisher Dreyer-Gaido. Guest musicians on the second and third albums were German accordionist [Manfred Leuchter](/source/Manfred_Leuchter), [duduk](/source/duduk) player [Jivan Gaparyan](/source/Djivan_Gasparyan) from [Armenia](/source/Armenia) and [Lebanese](/source/Lebanese_people) percussionist [Rony Barrak](/source/Rony_Barrak). Since the three founding members emigrated to the US, Tunisian-British violinist [Jasser Haj-Youssef](/source/Jasser_Haj_Youssef) and Syrian cellists Basilius Alawad or Kinan Abou-Afach joined the band. Both as members of Hewar as well as individual artists, Azmeh, Orsho and Rafea have also been part of the [Morgenland Festival Osnabrück](/source/Morgenland_Festival_Osnabr%C3%BCck) in Germany.{{Cite web |last=Brehmer |first=Marian |date=2022-06-15 |title=Morgenland Festival Osnabruck: Songs for days to come |url=https://qantara.de/en/article/morgenland-festival-osnabruck-songs-days-come |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=qantara.de |language=en}} ==Discography== * ''Hewar'' (2005). * ''9 Days of Solitude: The Damascus Session'' (2007), featuring Manfred Leuchter, accordion * ''Letters to a Homeland'' (2012), featuring Jivan Gasparyan, Rony Barrak, Andreas Müller, Morgenland Chamber Orchestra == See also == * [Music of Syria](/source/Music_of_Syria) == Further reading == * [https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/19061323/Local_Meets_Global_at_World_Music_Nights_in_Damascus___Silverstein___Syrian_Studies_Association_Newsletter-libre.pdf?1390865994=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DLocal_Meets_Global_at_World_Music_Night.pdf&Expires=1705873817&Signature=albeNi5L6So0KBjX58RpVCrS5YS5IGpfyYf8~bMIHQlOoaXHkzteNRaShql6iOghNl1FGs1cACzu2lyfxy6cI2-8pvSjOCiR-1QU5CCvcstA8D9E0-oNlDzfQ4ah5FmgCsnVwg0Y3fL5nS8AN~kIcLAJ3XEdw-qSVLgKdXLjm9k8bxG8LJcJRyB455sanDf3rUDGw71EgjNfJ-3xxkl3iNnS1sMG2XzwkSZF8C4qjvpmT8jjnOdKmH3ikXYxAmRHWzg~FkFXCEY7ETgzuaTBDXnZgNr6XI4nNfHTZuLGY~009~U6lSdjI4-TZRgUjH2RhWNJfU1BH7EQPRw-Bamkjw__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA Shayna Silverstein. (2008) Local Meets Global at World Music Nights in Damascus. Syrian Studies Association Newsletter, Vol 14, No 1] == References == {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[https://www.discogs.com/artist/4157989-%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B9%D8%A9-%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1 Hewar on discogs] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080828002638/http://www.dimaorsho.com/HewC.htm Hewar on Dima Orsho's webpage] *[https://kinanazmeh.com/hewar/ Hewar on Kinan Azmeh's webpage] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHZkk47_7yI&list=PLq2b-ffg8D_xm0JXdJ5lfz-6uTrMvKISm&index=4 Morgenland Chamber Orchestra & Ensemble Hewar] on YouTube *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rck7MN3qdc0 Gurdjieff Ensemble & Hewar - Live at the Elbphilharmonie] on YouTube {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hewar}} Category:Jazz fusion ensembles Category:Musical groups established in 2003 Category:Musicians from Damascus Category:Syrian contemporary artists Category:Music of Syria Category:Syrian musical groups --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hewar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewar) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewar?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.