Alzouhir Karam

Born in 1987 in Damascus, Syria, Karam Al Zouhir is a musician (violin, viola, keyboard), musicologist, educator and arranger, with degrees from the Solhi Al Wadi Conservatory in Damascus, and in music education from the University of Homs. In France since 2011, he has been studying at the University of Strasbourg, where he obtained his master’s degree in musicology under the direction of Pierre Michel. As a violist, he was a member of the Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra (Bremen), the Damascus String Quintet (Berlin) and the Ornina Orchestra (Luxembourg). In Strasbourg, he created the jazz duo Monky Mind with bassist Joris Coimbra, and an experimental music duo with saxophonist Olivier Duverger. He taught viola at the Strasbourg and Mulhouse conservatories as part of the Démos post-project in partnership with the Philharmonie de Paris. Karam is behind ”Un Nôtre Pays”, a show for young audiences that premiered at the end of 2018. In November 2021, Karam created the string trio Al-Turukq for a carte blanche at the Strasbourg Méditerranée festival. In 2022, he created the flamenco duo Rihaal with Belgian guitarist Thanas Kas, and embarked on a solo project ”Vivre ici et ailleurs” inspired by the poems of Constantin Cavafis. He composed and performed the music for Jeune Mort, a live-radio installation programmed at the 77th Avignon Festival. He is a member of l’atelier des artistes en exil.