Firas Zreik

Artist-composer, lyricist, and educator Firas Zreik shares the fresh, evolving sounds of the kanun, a trapezoidal plucked zither central to Middle Eastern and North African music traditions. A Palestine-born New Yorker, Zreik has performed and recorded across the world as a leader and highly sought-after collaborator since 2013. His treatment of the kanun has transformed global perception of the instrument, preserving its identity as a vital part of the maqam tradition and stretching its potential as a cultural chameleon.