SADA TRIO

Sada Trio consists of the virtuosos Ahmad Al Khatib (oud), Pedram Shahlai (violin), and Feras Charestan (qanun). They have their roots in three different parts of the Middle East and together they play their own compositions in a classical oriental tradition with a rarely heard sincerity.

Ahmad Al Khatib was born in Jordan and studied music and cello at Al-Yarmouk University, and later musicology and methodology in Sweden. He has toured with various ensembles and taught cello and oud at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, as well as modal music theory, composition, and ensemble at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg.

Pedram Shahlai was born in Kurdish Iran and holds a master's degree in violin from the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg. His musical voice is cross-border, with influences from classical music, jazz, gypsy, and tango, but with a core in Kurdish music. With his playfulness and dazzling finger dexterity, he has become a masterful improviser.

Feras Charestan was born in Syria and has a degree from the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus. He specializes in the oriental string instrument qanun, which has about seventy strings, requiring enormous skill. He is currently studying at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.

Read more:

• Achmad Al Khatib's website