As a response to the dire socio-economic situation in Lebanon, we launched a series of local residencies meant to offer Lebanon-based musicians time away from the challenges of daily life, to be able to focus solely on their music. A committee of professionals made a selection of 5 artists, each of whom is to spend 10-12 days in residency in Lebanon.
First up was Yara Asmar, whom we discovered through the Musicians Support Program that we launched right after the August 4 explosion, designed to initiate the production cycle in the local music scene. Yara is a multi-disciplinary artist who experiments with different objects to make sounds, including but not limited to toy pianos, makeshift instruments and the theremin. She is also a visual artist and a puppeteer.
Yara Asmar Residency B&B
Yara Asmar Residency 01
Pictures by Nader Bahsoun
Yara spent 2 weeks in June 2021 at Hammana Artist House, where she worked on developing her music, learned miking techniques from studio engineer Ziad Moukarzel, and took a virtual theremin session with Javier Díez Ena.
You can watch an excerpt of the work she did during the residency below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a84aN_sZVjESajwyNi4PJSm6WHRRrZ7f/view?usp=sharing
Keep an eye on her page for new releases.
