Joseph Tawadros - Biography

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Joseph Tawadros was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1983. Immigrating to Australia in 1986, he brought with him a musical tradition inherited from his maternal grandfather, Mansi Habib (1920-1957), an active composer and an oud and violin virtuoso in Cairo. Tawadros’ uncle, Yacoub Mansi Habib, is an active professional Egyptian musician and recognised as one of the pioneering figures in Egyptian trumpet playing, also influenced his musical interest immensely. Joseph Tawadros has studied with Mohamed Youssef, a renowned oud player, jazz pianist and family friend. Youssef encouraged Joseph to explore the musical parameters of the oud and the traditional Egyptian taqasim, a performing style akin to improvisation. This, combined with tremendous talent, has resulted in Joseph Tawadros’ personal style being uniquely instinctive in his music's improvised content.

At the age of 12, he began performing in a trio with his teacher Youssef and Tarek Sawires, a fine traditional percussionist. This platform enabled the young musician to expose his compositions to the public for the first time. Since these formative years, Tawadros has explored diverse ways of expanding the role of the oud as an instrument in Australian society. As a member of the Coptic Orthodox Church, his musical education has also been fostered by his involvement in this important part of his life, establishing a Coptic Youth Orchestra with his friend, saxophonist Christian Watson.

In December 2001 Tawadros returned to Egypt and began studying the Egyptian violin with the celebrated Egyptian violinist, Esawi Daghir. Daghir was so impressed by his talent that he decided to teach him pro bono and has taken special care with Tawadros’ Egyptian violin education since this time.

Joseph Tawadros has performed at the Sydney Opera House, Cairo Opera House, Alexandria Opera House, Huntington Classical Music Festival, Womadelaide, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, City Recital Hall Angel Place, National Multicultural Festival, Institut Du Monde Arabe (Paris) with such artists as tabla master Zakir Hussain, sarangi master Sultan Khan, Slava Grigoryan, Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, James Crabb, Christian Lindberg, Neil Finn, Mark Isaacs, William Barton, Karin Schaupp, Bobby Singh and Katie Noonan.

In March 2004, Joseph completed his Egyptian tour of Cairo and Alexandria, being invited by the Egyptian Minister of Culture and the Opera House, it was the first cultural exchange between the Australian and the Egyptian governments. In the same year Joseph was also invited to perform at the WOMAD festival in Adelaide as a solo artist, in this he also took part in the All-Star jam session in front of an audience 30,000 people. This platform allowed Joseph to perform with Malian Band Tinirawen, Irish Band Kila, Sarangi Master Ustad Sultan Khan and his Indian percussionists, Algerian singer Hamid Baroudi, Didgeridoo player Mark Atkins and Tabla Maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, who had chosen the musicians for the collaboration.

In July of 2004, Joseph toured Italy with accordion virtuoso James Crabb, and had the pleasure of performing as a guest with ARIA award winning jazz band Wanderlust at the prestigious Villa Cellimontana jazz festival in Rome. 2004 has also seen the release of his debut album ‘Storyteller’ (ABC Classics), which was nominated for an ARIA award for the Best World Music album. The first official recording of this type of music in Australia, ‘Storyteller’ was launched by Her Excellency, the Governor of NSW Professor Marie Bashir on the 17^th June as a beautiful personal gesture for the young artist, a moment he most dearly cherishes. In August of 2004, Joseph (along with his brother James) teamed up with the Grigoryan brothers in Melbourne in an Interfaith Charity Appeal concert organised by Anglicare, raising $15000 for the Iraqi kids orphaned by war. In the same year, Joseph completed his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of NSW, majoring in performance and composition.

In November 2005, Joseph was invited by the Institute Du Monde Arabe in Paris to perform there with his brother James - A real honour for the young artists, as this Institute is the largest venue for Middle Eastern music in Europe which has housed many famous Arabic artists. This performance sees them to be the first Australians to perform at this venue.

In February 2006, Joseph completed a very successful national tour with his percussionist brother James and the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) with seven of Joseph's compositions being performed by this prestigious ensemble (pieces for oud, chamber orchestra and percussion) - led by the charismatic artistic director and lead violinist Richard Tognetti. among the highlights for 2006; a recording of eight of Joseph's compositions with the ACO; an ARIA nomination for 'Best World Music Album' for his CD Visions; and winning the very prestigious Freedman Fellowship award for Classical music.

Joseph has also composed for film, with his music featuring in the documentaries I Remember 1948 and The Last Days of Yasser Arafat; Short films Haneen and Checkpoint. He has also completed compositions for animations with artist Michael Roseth.

Joseph has released five Cds: Storyteller (ABC Classics 2004), Rouhani (ABC Classics 2005), Visions (JT 2006), Epiphany (JT 2007) & Angel (JT 2008).

Joseph has performed/collaborated with:

Slava Grigoryan (guitar)

Leonard Grigroyan (guitar)

Christian Lindberg (trombone)

Karin Schaupp (guitar)

Mark Isaacs (piano)

James Greening (trombone)

Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet)

Adam Armstrong (double Bass)

John Napier (cello)

Michael Kieran Harvey (piano)

Kila (Irish band)

Tiranawen (Mali band)

Neil Finn (guitar/vocals)

Ben Walsh (percussion)

Mark Atkins (didgeridoo)

Tyrone Noonan (vocal)

Brett Hirst (bass)

Benjamin Martin (Piano)

Emma Jane Murrphy (cello)

Heval

Zoe Hauptmann (double bass)

Emad Hamdy (guitar)

Akram Al-Sharif (Dohola)

Adel Salameh (oud)

Lee Malfrid (vocals)

William Barton (didjeridu)

Marshall Maguire (harp)

Yaron Hallis (vocals)

Marcello Maio (piano)

Vladimir Khusid (trumpet)

Richard Tognetti (violin)

Ustad Zakir Hussain (tabla)

Hamid Baroudi (Algerian singer)

Al Slavik (bass)

Abdou Dagher (violin)

Guy Strazzullo (guitar)

Jeremy Alsop (bass)

Mary Doumany (harp)

Daniel Weltlinger (violin)

Glen Henrich (vibraphone)

Christian Watson (saxophone)

James Tawadros (percussion)

Dimitri Vouras (clarinet)

Tony Wheeler (Clarinet)

Bobby Singh (tabla)

Julie Anthony (vocals)

Barry Crocker (vocals)

Fabian Hevia (percussion)

Peter Kennard (Percussion)

Farid ‘Freddy’ Rizk (guitar)

Maxim Bibeau (double bass)

Vassilli Formizky (double bass)

Mohammed Youseff (oud)

Naziha Azzouz (vocals)

Charlie McMahon (didjeridu)

David Jones (percussion)

Stuart Vandegraf (sax)

Santiago (guitar)

Mark Harris (double bass)

The Australian Chamber Orchestra

James Crabb (accordion)

Ustad Sultan Khan (sarangi)

Katie Noonan (vocal)

Alister Spence (piano)

Alfred Gamil (violin)

Emad Nosir (violin)

Nabil Rizkalla (oud)

Walid Bibi (nay)

Khaled Al-Amir (vocals)

Ghazi Nassouh (vocals)

Hany Bedir (percussion)

Saad Marco (violin)

Ashraf Aygaybi (nay)

Sherif Kamel (qanun)

Yacoub Mansi Habib (trumpet)

Gamal Zreika (darrabuka)

Tarek Sawires (percussion)

Esawi Dagher (violin)

Sandy Evans (saxophone)

Steve Elphick (double bass)

Jess Ciampa (percussion)

Sumanji (tabla)

Wanderlust

Lior (vocals)

Dave Norris (turntables)

Kid Confucious

Riley Lee (shakuhachi)

Monsieur Camembert

Eddie Bronson (accordion)

Shenzo Gregorio (violin)