Layth Sidiq - Artistic Director of the NY Arabic Orchestra
New York, NY - April 14, 2021 - The New York Arabic Orchestra has announced the appointment of Layth Sidiq as Artistic Director. Regarded as one of today’s most gifted violinists, Mr. Sidiq succeeds the late Bassam Saba, who co-founded the organisation in 2007 and served as artistic director and president.
Mr. Sidiq is an award-winning violinist, composer, and educator. He also serves as Director of the Center for Arabic Culture’s Youth Orchestra Program in Boston and is a faculty member at the annual Arabic Music Retreat directed by Simon Shaheen. Sidiq won 2nd place at the Zbigniew Seifert International Jazz Violin Competition in 2018 - the first person of Arab descent to participate in this prestigious competition - and was also recently awarded ‘Best International Artist’ at the 2020 Boston Music Awards.
“We are proud to have Layth Sidiq join the NYAO with his unique musical artistry, vision, and following,” said April Centrone, co-founder, and executive director, NYAO. “This is a crucial time in our development and Layth brings a diverse musical background along with a unique ability to expand the reach of the organisation, inspire orchestra members and meet the demands of diverse audiences.”
Center for Arabic Culture Youth Orchestra Program
Layth Sidiq - Director
“An orchestra is a community, a gathering of like-minded individuals with the aim of making music together as well as reinforcing the shared human values that make us a better society. At the Center for Arab Culture Youth’s Orchestra, students will benefit from studying with some of the best Arab musicians in the country, both privately and as a group, as well as being part of a dedicated ensemble that will prepare and perform Arab music from its traditional repertoire to its contemporary.
The future is in the hands of our youth. With the goal of preserving and integrating Arab music within the community, this orchestra will be an essential educational experience that will bring the youth closer to the roots of Arab music in both traditional and non-traditional formats. It will also be a space where they build their character, meet other peers, appreciate and play Arab music instruments and develop the skills they’ll need to become future leaders in their fields.”
-Layth Sidiq, CAC Youth’s Orchestra Director
Vasilis Kostas/Layth Sidiq Duo
Laouto player Vasilis Kostas and violinist Layth Sidiq met many miles from their respective home countries in Boston. The former is Greek, the latter Jordanian-Iraqi and their duo aims to highlight the musical roots of their countries while using them as a basis for exploring new ways of improvising, writing and arranging.
Without getting lost when borrowing elements from jazz and other contemporary styles, this inventive duo always seeks to capture the magic that emerges when following the thread of expanding the boundaries of musical traditions.
This duo had the opportunity to perform and present its compositions at the prestigious WOMEX Expo in Poland as well as the ADEM festival in Geneva, bringing a rich, exploratory and unique musical aesthetic to a new generation of audiences.
HAMSA, 2019
It began as a friendship between two musicians from two traditions:
Layth Sidiq, an Iraqi-Jordanian violinist, and Rohith Jayaraman, an Indian-American vocalist.
Sparked by their common interest in the rich musical traditions of India and the Middle East, Layth and Rohith embarked on a 6 year collaborative journey that culminated in this EP — Hamsa. Entirely crowdfunded, Hamsa raised over $4,000 in just 2 days. When the campaign ended, they had raised more than 150% of their original goal, with backers from around the world!As individual artists, Layth and Rohith have shared the stage with icons including A.R. Rahman, Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, Simon Shaheen, Shankar Mahadevan, Tigran Hamasyan, Ranjit Barot, Javier Limon, and Shreya Ghoshal; and Antarctica aside, they’ve played on every continent. Perhaps not a huge feat, but it sure is fun to say!
In a world of heavily arranged and produced music, Hamsa is an homage to the simplicity and energy of live, improvised, classical-folk music. The music you’ll find in Hamsa is honest, traditional, and maybe a little blasphemous — just the kind of music they love to play.
Kayany Foundation
Acclaimed violinist Layth Sidiq visited Lebanon to work with refugee children from Syria.
Carnegie Hall
Iraqi Folk with Layth Sidiq
New York City–based artists perform in a vibrant, highly interactive concert that lets children discover music from around the world that can be found right in their own city. Michael Daves performs bluegrass tunes, Qian Yi presents Chinese folk songs, and Layth Sidiq shares folk music from Iraq.