An ensemble of Arab chamber music.

Naseer Shamma founded the Oyoun ensemble in Cairo in 1999. The group’s work is based on a workshop system, which helps the musicians to nurture their highest skills and strong ties to their instruments. This began the almost daily and many hours’ work of Naseer Shamma with members of Oyoun to give a free rein to the whole enchantment of the Orient and to take in the beauty of Arab classical music – not to re-form it, but to give it a new start from existing achievements. Oyoun’s performances thus became part of Arab classical music, where “classical” denotes its value and type, irrespectively of its being composed recently.
The ensemble performed and recorded in many countries. Thanks to the collaboration with renowned Lebanese director Walid Aouni to produce the his magnificent staging of his spectacle based on Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Naseer Shamma had the opportunity to ponder the spirit of the composer so that he could, without contradicting him, preserve at the same time the tradition of his own Arab music. Oyoun proved equal to the task and Naseer Shamma’s dialogue with the music of Rimski-Korsakov was highly appreciated.
What the Oyoun ensemble wishes to present now, in far-away lands, is an entirely new and original composition, which is an attempt to reach new heights with the instrumental music of the players’ native countries. It is not about presenting the best known musical works or genres of a country; it is all about addressing the true issues of Arab music, based on previous experience in the field.
It will not be very difficult for the audience to discover the new musical style thanks to the great skills of the players and the new ideas in composition and musical form.
The ensemble gave concerts in many centres all over the world: among others, it went on a tour of Japan, it opened the Ravenna Festival in Italy and represented the League of Arab States at the inauguration of the International Book Fair in Frankfurt (where Arab countries were invited as guests of honour); it often performed in Egypt (also for the visits of Prince Charles and President Putin) and abroad, including Geneva.
Recently, the Oyoun ensemble recorded a CD, Hilal, in Spain.