About the Project

Who co-conceived the project together with Martina Winkel, is a theatre maker by profession. He has developed numerous large-scale participatory since his tenure as Artistic Director for Performing Arts for European Capital of Culture Linz09. He will be responsible for the grand design of the project and communicating it into the diverse communities of the different cities, the training of trainers/animators, numerous theatre workshops, putting together the procession/parcours (Part 1), and co-directing the staged production (Part 2).

Has written and directed numerous productions, has written the Libretto for the Kepler Opera by Philip Glass, and has participated in numerous participatory educational projects in Austria, Holland, and Belgium. She will be responsible for the Libretto and co-directing of the music theatre piece (Part 2), set design and live shadow elements, and writing and shadow puppetry workshops.

Has worked intensively with musicians from different cultures. He will be responsible for the overall composition and orchestrations of the music of Part 2 together with Arabic composer, lute player, and singer Moneim Adwan (FR/Palestine), who will contribute the vocal lines for the Arabic characters and orchestrations for the Arabic musical numbers. All three musicians will also hold workshops for local communities and schools.

Born in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip of Palestine, began to sing Palestinian traditional songs and prayers of the Prophet Mohamed in his childhood (tajwîd). At 17 years old he starts lute and study to the University of Tripoli (Libya) where he obtained a Master Degree in musicology with Professor Fateh El-Ramiz (song) and Abdallah Sabai (luth). With the tradition of both popular and classical art music as an heritage, Moneim Adwan compose on classic or modern poems written by Palestinians and Arabic writers. His compositions are an attempt to keep the tradition alive in a country that wavers between modernism and ancestral traditions. His warm voice is the most beautiful instrument to convey a human, love and tolerant message in the midst of war and destruction.

With vast experience in participatory projects and different operas composed for the most prestigious opera houses in Europe. He will be responsible for music workshops and the musical guidance of the procession/parcours, as well as the musical numbers for the participatory choir, which will be heard in both parts.

Was nominated for the International Opera Awards 2016 and will conduct the mixed orchestra made up of the musicians of the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra and local musicians in each city. He has great experience with music from East and West and can communicate with both the Arabic and English singing soloists in their mother tongues.

Palestinian singer and flutist Nai Barghouti will be singing in arabic the role of Layla in O&M. Very young and rising star of arabic music, member of the Palestine Youth Orchestra (PYO), Nai is also very engaged with the situation of the occupied territories, trying to raise consciousness via music. She is finalizing her music studies in Amsterdam.

Born in France, Judith Fa is soprano who joined the Dutch National Opera Academy in 2011. With a predilection for comtemporary works, she will be singing the role of Eurydice in our production O&M. In 2013 she debuted in the role of Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro of Mozart. Some of the prestigious opera houses that have invited her are Opera Comique, Rouen, Bordeaux, Clermont Ferrand, etc.  Her debut at La Monnaie, in Brussels, will be precisely with O&M.

The young french baritone will be singing the rôle of Orfeo in O&M. He has been coached by different and important figures such as Christine Schweitzer or Maryse Castets. Among his projects, Masetto in the Konzert Theater Bern, Figaro in Les Noces de Figaro for the Opera Grand Avignon, Horace in Hamlet for the Opera Comique, Borilé in les Boréades of Rameau for the Opera Dijon, La Flûte enchantée for the Opera of Lille and Les Contes d'Hoffmann for La Monnaie.

He works regularly for film and television. He also specializes on developing creatures, which can be built in participatory processes in mobile workshops in public spaces. Roger Titley will be responsible for the design and preparation of the animals and the training of arts students, who will animate the mobile workshops and support the citizens during the public workshops, as well as for the movement training for the procession/parcours and the stage.

Multidisciplinary artist with experience in participatory projects in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, will be responsible for the Live-Video layer of the staged musictheatre piece (Part 2) and the preparation of the local Live-Video operators, as well as for video and film workshops.

Poet and Journalist born in Palestina, Fatena is living in Belgium, with books published for different publishing houses in different parts of the world. She is responsible for the poetic translation from the english to the arabic of the lines that will be sung by Layla and Majnun in the Music Theater Production.

Born in Spain, Marta is a dancer and choreographer. She is part of Rosas, the company created by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, one of the most prestigious in the world. Marta will be the choreographer responssible for the movement and body language of singers, choirs and animal puppets in the music theather production.

Has been working on participatory urban development projects in Europe and Asia. He will be responsible for developing the Urban Labs and the interface between the artistic process and the urban development processes in the neighbourhoods. He will integrate local urban developers and municipalities into the process.

Loay Srouji was born in Nazareth, Palestine in 1994.He began his musical journey by studying classical violin at the age of 10, and participated in several concerts and tours in his homeland and abroad. Later on, he started singing Arabic music influenced by his father. As a singer, he participated in many festivals and television programs. Recently, he participated in two successful tours around his homeland. Nowadays, Loay studies oriental music at the "Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance".