Ibrahim Keivo

Sacred & Traditional Music from Syria

📅 21 March 2026
🕗 20:00
📍 German Evangelical Community Church
Bleijenburg 3B
2511 VC The Hague
Netherlands

Tickets:https://arabfilmfestival.stager.co/shop/default/events/111621460

Ibrahim Keivo (Syria / Germany) is a Syrian-Armenian singer and multi-instrumentalist who, like no other, represents the rich and multifaceted musical cultures of Mesopotamia. A true troubadour of multicultural Syria, Keivo carries ancient musical traditions from Armenian, Syriac, Kurdish, Yazidi, Mardalli, and Bedouin communities. He sings in multiple languages and performs on a wide range of traditional string instruments, including tar, saz, bağlama, rabab, buzuq, and oud.

Keivo has given solo recitals and concerts in some of Europe’s most prestigious venues, including the Elbphilharmonie, Alte Oper Frankfurt, and the Kölner Philharmonie. He has performed and recorded with the NDR Bigband and numerous international ensembles. His distinctive repertoire has also been presented at the Maison des Cultures du Monde in Paris, the Institut du Monde Arabe, and at festivals throughout Europe and the Arab world.

Born in 1965 in northern Syria into a family of survivors of the Armenian Genocide, Ibrahim Keivo grew up in a region where Syrian, Mesopotamian, and Levantine cultures converge. After studying in Aleppo with the influential Syrian composer and musicologist Nouri Iskandar, he gained recognition as both a performer and a researcher of the rich oral musical heritage of the Al-Jezireh region.

Keivo’s work has earned him international acclaim, numerous awards, and collaborations spanning traditional music, sacred chant, jazz, classical, and contemporary world music. His performances are deeply expressive and historically grounded, offering audiences a rare opportunity to encounter musical traditions that have been passed down orally for centuries — alive, resonant, and profoundly human.

This concert is a co-production with the Rotterdam Arab Film Festival.