‘Aquarium #4 with Martin Schütz’ at IRTIJAL ’15 International Festival of Experimental Music in Lebanon

Founded in 2000, Irtijal is presently the oldest music festival of the city of Beirut, and one of the longest standing international festivals of post-war Lebanon. Irtijal is organized by MILL, a non-profit association founded in 2000 by musicians Mazen Kerbaj and Sharif Sehnaoui, with the intent of promoting contemporary and experimental practices in music, and assisting projects that do not fit within the Lebanese mainstream, yet still present undeniable artistic value.

Aquarium is a collaborative project between Fadi Tabbal and Youmna Saba (and a varying line-up of collaborators), where the two Lebanese musicians explore ambient drones and textural soundscapes, by way of prepared guitars and oud. The performances follow a specific sonic set-up, wherein both audience and musicians are surrounded by the speakers.

Born in 1954, Martin Schütz is a Swiss cellist and electronic musician and composer. A leading figure of the European improvised music scene since the late 80’s, he has played with a large variety of musicians from Europe, the USA and elsewhere, such as Lawrence Butch Morris, Barre Phillips, Hans Burgener and Paul Lovens. Schütz is perhaps best known for his contribution to Swiss trio Koch-Schütz-Studer – alongside Hans Koch and Fredy Studer – and its “Hardcore Chambermusic”. Working together since 1990, the three musicians have also collaborated with traditional musicians from non-Western musical backgrounds, including various Cuban street musicians and the El Nil Troop from Egypt. In 1998, the trio embarked on a project called “Roots & Wires”, with New York Dj’s I-Sound and M. Singe.

Fadi Tabbal is a Lebanese musician, producer and sound engineer, known for his contributions to Beirut’s alternative music scene by way of the specialized studio he opened in 2006, called Tunefork. In addition to managing and handling all engineering tasks at Tunefork Studios, including full band recordings, live sound, production and music composition, Tabbal is a full-time member of several Lebanese rock bands, including The Incompetents, Under the Carpet, Scrambled Eggs, and collaborates frequently with singer/songwriter Youmna Saba. He released his first solo album in 2013, entitled On The Rooftop Looking Up.

Youmna Saba is a Lebanese singer/songwriter who started writing songs quite accidentally, after accepting to perform originals at the opening of an art exhibition in Beirut. She has released three albums to this day, in collaboration with musician and sound engineer Fadi Tabbal from Tunefork Studios. Saba has collaborated with many musicians, including Korean gayageum player Kyungso Park, Polish composer Piotr Kurek, and British songwriter/guitarist Mike Cooper, and has taken part in several music programs and residencies, including the Bang on a Can-sponsored OneBeat program and a residency at Gyeonggi Creation Center in South Korea, where she wrote her latest album Njoum.

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