About Marwan Abado

Marwan Abado is the best known ambassador of oriental music in Austria and one of those musicians who demonstrate that Austria is a land of music full of inspiration and interesting encounters.
The native Palestinian has lived in Vienna for over 30 years and has played with many musicians from various cultures and styles, including among others Paul Gulda, Roland Neuwirth, Timna Brauer, Alegre Correa, Krysztof Dobrek, Franz Hautzinger, Eliott Sharp, Kamilia Jubran, Otto Lechner, Charbel Rouhana, Simone Pergmann, Sahar Taha.

Marwan Abado was selected best artist in the category folk & world-international by the Austrian music magazine Concerto in 2005 (together with K. Dobrek, A. Biz, A. Correa and R. Neuwirth for the CD and live programme “´s geht eh“), in 2006 Abado was selected second best artist in the same category for his CD “Kabila”. In November 2008 Abado received the Federal Medal of Intercultural Dialogue from the Austrian Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture, for his engagement in intercultural dialogue. Besides his own musical programmes Abado has also composed for film and theatre. His latest theatre compositions can be heard in Vienna’s renowned Akademietheater in the play “Incendies” by Wajdi Mouawad.

Abado’s music has its roots in the classical Arabic music tradition of the TAQ´SIM, which is not restricted to particular rhythms, but rather springs from the inner impulses of the musician.

On the one hand Abado´s melodies and musical concepts take their power from the deep relatedness to his roots. He is conscious about the rich Arabic tradition which he is “musically living” not only quoting. At the same time, Abado steps across the borders between orient and occident seeking dialogue with European traditions and musicians. The outcome, Abado´s specific sound: cosmopolitan, borderless music.
Contemporary poetry and prose often provide the inspiration for Abado’s lyrics. The songs tell stories about parting, travelling, expulsion, hope and – of course – love.
“My music is not trendy – it is part of me. I am living here in Vienna as a musician with an oriental background, speaking an oriental language, playing an oriental instrument – the oud. At the same time I feel myself cosmopolitan. Here in this town I meet and work with people from all over the world with different cultural backgrounds everyday – so my music is neither Arabic nor European. My music is simply the expression of my feelings and my life.”