Rihab Azar Quartet - Dandelion Debut Album Launch
Presented in collaboration with ArtStage
| Rihab Azar | oud |
|---|---|
| Hoda Jahanpour | cello |
| Fra Rustumji | violin |
| Ant Romero | percussion |
Aga Khan Music Award finalist (2025) Rihab Azar is one of the few women oud players/composers taking the oud to new expressive, daring and unconventional horizons. She was the first woman oudist to play accompanied by the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music (2014) and was recognised by Arts Council England as a musician of exceptional promise (2016).
While deeply rooted in the authentically Middle-Eastern character of the Oud, Rihab Azar’s music possesses a uniquely rich, intimate and daring identity of its own. Virtuosity, imagery, storytelling, and philosophical reflection infuse this programme with layers of uniqueness inviting the audience to a rich experience across genres, time and geography.
The quartet will play the original works of Rihab’s debut album Dandelion, alongside pieces by renowned composers M. AbdulWahab, Hamza El Din, Ahmad Alkhatib, Feras Charestan & Adnan Abushamat.
The audience is invited to immerse itself in an unconventional yet accessible, daring and intimate chamber music experience that is genre-defying and full of mastery, imagination and curiosity.
This programme was premiered in Stratford, Canada, in Spring 2025 with INNERchamber.
This event is suitable for audiences aged 12 and over.
This event will last for approximately 110 minutes including an interval.
Concessions & Under 30s tickets
Kings Place Concessions Tickets
We want to ensure that people who may be struggling financially to purchase a ticket can still enjoy visiting Kings Place. A limited number of tickets are allocated for certain events (if the ticket type does not show in the booking pathway, it means they are not available for this event or have all been sold). Concessions tickets are accessible for people on the following criteria (for more information visit our FAQs)
- Pension Credit
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£10 ‘Under 30s’ tickets
A limited number of £10 tickets for attendees aged under 30 are available for certain shows. To purchase an ‘Under 30s’ ticket, please choose the ‘Under 30s’ price type when selecting your ticket(s). If the option does not appear, this means all ‘Under 30s’ tickets have sold out or are not available for this performance. Please note that proof of age may be requested at the venue. The £10 offer does not apply to premium price categories.
Plan your visit
Getting here
Kings Place is situated just a few minutes’ walk from King’s Cross and St Pancras stations, one of the most connected locations in London and now the biggest transport hub in Europe.
Our address is:
90 York Way, London, N1 9AG.
The Venue
Our performance spaces are situated on the lower ground floor. Hall One, Hall Two and St Pancras are located in level -2, reached by stairs, escalator and lift from the ground floor entrance level.
Event Times
Door times indicate auditorium entrance times only. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the Kings Place seating areas, gallery-level art, canal-side terrace, café, restaurant and bar throughout the day and evening.
- Our events begin promptly at the advertised start time. Typically, there is no support unless otherwise stated.
- We recommend arriving in good time before the performance. The Hall doors will open 30 minutes before the performance to allow time to take your seats, or to choose a space for standing shows.
- Latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance where possible
Access
We aim to make your visit to Kings Place as comfortable as possible. For more information about the accessibility of Kings Place, including details about our Access Scheme, please visit this page.
If you would like to discuss your access requirements with a member of our team, please get in touch with the Box Office team at info@kingsplace.co.uk.
Food & Drink
Rotunda Bar & Restaurant
Rotunda, situated on the ground floor of Kings Place, offers a unique dining and drinking experience alongside Regent’s Canal. The concert bar in the venue foyer will also be open for select events.
Green & Fortune Café
Recently re-furbished and now open with a new look, the Green & Fortune Café is open for selected concerts. Serving hot and cold food and drinks, including sandwiches, salads, soup, stew and a pie of the day, alongside a choice of cakes made by the on-site bakery team. See here for selected concert dates and standard opening hours.
Rihab Azar
Aga Khan Music Award finalist (2025), Syrian oud player, composer and music facilitator, was born in Homs, Syria to a very musical family. Her father, luthier Samir Azar made her the first oud she played at the age of 7 and was her first teacher.
She continued her studies at the Conservatoire of Damascus under the supervision of multiple oud masters and was the first woman oudist to solo-perform accompanied by the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music (2014), and she was a member in a pioneering women-only ensemble throughout her early career years in Syria.
In 2015, Rihab received a Chevening scholarship, which enabled her to study Music Education at Master’s level at IOE, UCL. In 2016, Arts Council England Recognised Rihab as a musician of “exceptional promise” and throughout her work in the UK and abroad, Rihab has performed as a soloist as well as with different ensembles and orchestras such as the London Sinfonietta, Cantata Dramatica, The Third Orchestra, RNS & Theatre of Voices. She has collaborated on several interdisciplinary, creative, cross-genre projects and written music for radio, film & theatre.
Rihab also teaches music at several primary schools in South London and she was Wigmore Hall’s Trainee Music Leader for 2022-2023, working in different community settings. Her community workshop work has been in collaboration with several entities including Wigmore Hall, ASMF, The Horniman Museum, Sinfonia Viva & Cheltenham Jazz Festival.
Her compositions have been very well-received and described as “unique and unconventional” in how they present the oud in an intimate, fresh, playful, curious way whilst preserving the core characteristics that have come to give the oud its unique presence worldwide.
In 2023, The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) selected Rihab’s debut album to be one of the fundawarded projects.
Reviews
‘Infinitely tender and haunting’ The Arts Desk
‘A beautiful balance between tradition and dreamy experimentation’ God is in The TV
‘A highlight’ The Guardian