Tunisian composer, singer and oud player, Dhafer Youssef, who is known for synthesizing Arabic music and combining it with contemporary jazz music, met his Iranian audience on February 19 at Milad Concert Hall, Tehran.

Youssef, who has used old poems from different countries including famous Iranian poets such as Hallaj, has had many projects in spiritual music. He is a famous and well-known musician in the world.

His concert at Milad hall, titled “Sounds of Mirrors” was based on old Arabic poems and oriental inspirations from the Middle East.

His 100-muinute concert, during which he played oud, was welcomed by the audience. He dedicated some parts of the concert to improvisation but his orchestra consisted of Norwegian electronic music artist and guitarist, Eivind Aarset, Italian saxophone player, Raffaele Casarano and Brazilian drummer, Adriano Dos Santos.

In the middle of the concert, Youssef invited two kids under age 8 to the stage to sing a song. The kids were encouraged by Youssef and the audience.

One of Youssef’s features was his comprehensive familiarity to Iranian music. We can consider oud as a factor that makes him closer to Iranian music. Basically, one of the characteristics of his music is poems from Arabic, Iranian and Indian poets.

Nader Mashayekhi and Milad Derakhshani were the special guests of Youssef’s concert.