Mohamed Oweda

Mohamed Oweda is a violinist and music producer. He was Born in 1991 in Cairo, where he is from an artistic family as he is the son of the late Egyptian composer Abd El-Azim Oweda . At the age of 7, he joined The Higher Institute of Music – Cairo Conservatory – where he began studying the violin with Professor Ahmed Ramzy, and then continued his studies with Professor Hassan Sharara.

In 2012, Mohamed graduated from the Cairo Conservatory with an Excellence with Honours Bachelor degree. In 2003, Oweda won the first prize and the award of the best player at his age in the Middle East at Sharjah’s Cultural Forum in the United Arab Emirates. Also, he has obtained an appreciation certificate for his participation at the Festival of Queen Noor Al Hussein in the Kingdom of Jordan in 2004 .

Following up his professional career, Oweda took part as a member and guest artist in many orchestras inside and outside Egypt, such as, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, the Cairo Opera Orchestra, the Alexandria Bibliotheca Chamber Orchestra, the Arab Youth Philharmonic Orchestra -2006,2007-, the International Youth Symphony Orchestra in Germany -2008-, the Cairo Opera Celebration Orchestra. He also joined the Cairo Conservatory Symphony Orchestra in representing Egypt at Beethoven’s Festival in Bonn in 2007.

Also, to mention, he was assigned as a Concertmaster for the Cairo Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, the Cairo Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, and the Egyptian Philharmonic Society Chamber Orchestra as an associate principal and principle 2nd violin from 2009-2012.

Mohamed was also associate principal 2nd violin with the Cairo Opera Orchestra from 2012-2013, Al Andalusia Orchestra – the seconded orchestra of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra – as a Concertmaster under the baton of maestro Daniel Barenboim in 2010. Then with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra as an associate principal 2nd violin from 2011 till now. In his Solo career, Mohamed performed with the Cairo Conservatory Chamber Orchestra and the Egyptian Philharmonic Society Chamber Orchestra for several times.

As for his contributions in chamber music and solo recitals, Mohamed performed many concerts in Cairo Opera House, Al Goumhoreia Theatre – Cairo, Cairo Conservatory Institute, Russian Cultural Center in Cairo, Sayed Darwish Theatre in Alexandria, and the Center of Creativity Arts in Alexandria, and other venues.

He also participated in the events of the Finnish-Egyptian Cultural Bridge in Cairo in 2011, performing with Ralf Gothoni – the Finnish Conductor – and his son Mark Gothoni the violin professor. In 2013, Oweda has been granted a Scholarship from the French Institute in Cairo to continue his studies in France, where he Studied for one year at Conservatoire de Lyon with Professor Françis Duroy and got his Perfectionnement 4ème cycle certificate in 2014.

Nowadays, Mohamed is a member of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, 2nd violins group, since January 2015.

Mohamed Ibrahim Saleh

Mohamed Saleh started his oboe studies at age 12 and won his first solo position in the Cairo Opera Orchestra at age 17.

During his conservatory studies, he won first prize at The Egyptian Ministry of Culture Oboe Competition (1994) and first prize at the  Satellite Musical competition for Woodwinds (1995). Shortly after, he received his Bachelor’s of Music and Oboe performance from the Cairo Conservatory under Professor E. Kocinski.

In 2004, Mohamed won a scholarship to continue his musical studies in Chicago, USA. There, he studied under Alex Klein and received his Master’s of Oboe Performance from Roosevelt  University. Other studies followed in Rostock College of Music and Theatre in Rostock, Germany, where he received his Artist Diploma (Konzert Exam) in Oboe Performance, Orchestral, and Chamber Music studies in 2006. There he studied under Professor G. Witt.

He later went on to receive his Doctorate of Arts and Oboe Performance in 2007 from the Cairo Academy of Arts. Throughout his career, Mohamed has performed with numerous professional orchestras and has appeared as soloist with the following ensembles: Cairo Opera Orchestra, Ikhnaton Chamber Orchestra, Heidelberg Sinfoniker, Die Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonic of The Nations, Etihad Symphony Orchestra, and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, where he was a founding member in 1999 under Maestro Daniel Barenboim.

In his free time, Mohamed enjoys playing other woodwind instruments, including Saxophone and Duduk.

Islam Abdelaziz

Islam was born in Kuwait in 1982. He started studying at Cairo Conservatoire at the age of 9. Islam studied the viola there with Professor Mayada Salah Eldin. He got the Diploma Certificate in May 1999 from the Cairo Conservatoire with the grade excellent. Then he graduated in 2003 with the grade excellent and obtained his graduate diploma in 2005.

He played with many orchestras, including the Cairo Opera Orchestra, Cairo Conservatoire Orchestra, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, and Alexandria Chamber Orchestra. Islam participated in many other national and international Festivals and Tours of the Cairo Conservatoire Orchestra and Cairo Opera Orchestra.

He is very active as a chamber music performer. He also played under big conductors like Lorin Maazel, Gerd Albrecht, Dmitri Kitajenko, Daniel Barenboim. Islam played in the Cairo Opera Orchestra from 2000 until 2008. He taught Viola in the Cairo Conservatoire from 2004 until 2008.

Islam joined Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008 and continues to this day. He finished his master degree examination from the Cairo Conservatoire in 2010 with the grade excellent. And he obtained his Ph.D from the Cairo Conservatoire and the Academy of Arts in 2016 with first degree honour.

Alexander Kamenarov PhD

Alexander Kamenarov received his first piano lesson at the age of 5 and his first percussion lesson at age of 7. At a very early age he showed his musical talent during numerous solo performances with the best orchestras of Bulgaria, such as the Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Broadcasting Company.

Alexander completed his music education with two master’s degrees from the National Music Academy Pantcho Vladigerov (Professor and Doctor Tatiana Karparova) in Sofia, Bulgaria, and the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria, where he had the chance to work with one of the most outstanding percussionists of our time, Professor and Dr. Peter Sadlo.

In 2016, he also received a doctorate of Musicology and Musical Art from the National Academy of Music in Sofia.

He is the founding member of the Via Nova Percussion Group, with whom he won first prize at the most prestigious percussion competition in Luxembourg in 2005, IPCL.

As a soloist and chamber music artist he has been invited to renowned music festivals such as International Percussion Convent in Taipei, Taiwan; Percussion Festival Hong Kong; Beijing Percussion Festival; Sergiu Celibidache Festival in München, Germany; MDR Musiksommer in Germany; Schwetzingen Festspiele in Germany; Echternach Festival in Luxembourg; Salon of the Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria; BEMUS in Belgrade, Serbia; Mainzer Musiksommer in Germany; Aspekte Festival in Salzburg, Austria; Biennale Salzburg in Austria; and Les museiques Festival in Basel, Switzerland.

As a timpanist and percussionist Alexander performed with Camerata Salzburg; Mozarteum Orchester in Salzburg; Orchester der Tiroler Festspiele in Austria; Les Talens Lyrique in Paris; Orchestre des Champs-Elysées in Paris; Orchestre National d’île de France; Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra; New Symphony Orchestra in Sofia; Austrian Ensemble for New Music (ÖENM), and Philharmonia of the Nations in Germany.

In 2009-2010, Alexander Kamenarov was invited as a guest lecturer at the National Music Academy Pantcho Vladigerov, where he taught for the first time in Bulgaria, “History, interpretation and stylistic in the Austrian classical music from XVIII, XIX and XX century, performed on Viennese timpani, Snare Drum and Mallet Instruments. He has given workshops and master classes in Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, Japan, Hong Kong and China, and was a jury member at the International Competition for Percussion Instruments Pendim in Plovdiv, Bulgaria (2005, 2007 and 2009) and at the Percussion Festival Hong Kong (2007).

He has released three CDs with Via Nova Percussion Group: Bulgarian Night (2005), The next Generation (2007) and Sculpture in wood (2010). Since 2007, Alexander Kamenarov has been endorser of Adams Musical Instruments, Holland (Via Nova Percussion Group), and since 2015, also of Lefima Percussion, Germany.

Since 2008, he has been a member of the Austrian society of authors, composers, and music publishers (AKM).

Aleksandr Haskin

Hailed by the Washington Post as “A Musician of exceptional power and dramatic skill, completely in charge of his instrument”, Aleksandr Haskin is the top prize winner of numerous international competitions including the Alexander & Buono International Flute Competition in New York, Penderecki International Flute Competition in Krakow, Poland, 27th World Music Competition in Spain, and so on.

Most notably, Mr. Haskin won the prestigious Young Concert Artist International Audition in New York in 2009 as one of the ten flutists in the world who won the honor in over 50 years.

Born in Minsk, Belarus, Mr. Haskin received his education from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Russia and from the Yale University School of Music in USA. Since 2008, he has served as the Co-Principal flutist of Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. During 2007-2008, Mr. Haskin was solo piccoloist of the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra in Moscow.

He was also principal flutist of the Moscow Conservatory Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Gennady Rozhdestvensky.

Mr. Haskin made his highly acclaimed solo debut at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in 2011. He has appeared in solo and chamber concerts at the Merkin Hall in New York, Nexus Concert Hall in Tokyo, Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, among others.

Alongside his orchestral and solo career, Mr. Haskin taught at Qatar Music Academy and American School of Doha. He regularly conducts master classes and open coaching in some of the most renowned institutions in the U.S., including the New England Conservatory, Mannes School of Music, Carnegie-Mellon University, Colburn School and the University of Southern California.

He is a frequent faculty-in-residence and clinician at music festivals and summer camps in the U.S. and Europe. He has been invited as guest artist in Italy, Luxembourg, China, Taiwan, Spain, Russia, Belarus, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, as well as to adjudicate flute competitions in both Russia and China.

In August 2017, he was invited to perform duet with renowned American flutist and journalist Eugenia Zukerman at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Recently, he appeared as soloist with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra performing the Concerto for Flute by the critically-claimed Juilliard Composer Behzad Ranjbaran, who enthusiastically praised Haskin’s “superb interpretation, beautiful tone, brilliant technique and a deep understanding of the concerto”.

Mr. Haskin is a proud Burkart Artist and Representative.

Anne-Cathrin Ehrlich

Anne-Cathrin Ehrlich is one of the founding members of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. Born in Zwickau-Germany, she began her musical journey at the age of 5 playing the violin in the Robert Schumann Conservatory.
Already at this very young age her great love for the Orchestra and music was undeniable. After winning several competitions, Anne joined the State Youth Orchestra of Saxony. By the year 2000 she held the principal position of Second Violins. By 14 years of age Anne joined the Special Music College in Dresden a prestigious college for only selected, exceptionally talented young Musicians. She later on attained her Masters in the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Weimar with the highly esteemed violinist and Prof of music; Matthias Wollong. Throughout Anne’s time at University she was invited to travel and perform with Master class musicians worldwide, including performances in America with the brilliant Julia Fischer and Jeffrey Multer from The Juilliard School of Music in New York City. Post-graduation, Anne accepted her first fixed term position in Jena Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany. Shortly after auditioning successfully for The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and moving to Qatar to start a new chapter of her life. Anne currently resides in Qatar with her husband and two children. Qatar has been home for the past 13 years and alongside her career with Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra Anne is a gifted and committed teacher of music as well as being the co-founder of the highly successful Female String ensemble Al Jamal.