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For over one month, the Ud Festival presents concerts in The Netherlands revolving around the freedom of the ud. This pear-shaped Arabic instrument is the direct predecessor of the European lute. On our stage we welcome two innovators of this ancient stringed instrument, the Syrian solo performer Nazih Borish and Turkish-born Mehmet Polat and his band. Nazih Borish started at the age of five and taught himself how to play the ud, developing himself at a marvellous pace. He sounded so unique because he adopted techniques from jazz, flamenco and Indian music and applied the to the ud for the first time. I his native Latakia, Syria, he founded his own ud school, where he educated over a hundred students. Since 2016 he has been continuing his musical mission in Montreal. Ud player and composer Mehment Polat takes three all-rounders on board for his new quartet. The eclectic compositions originate from contemplation, experiment, emotions, adventure and virtuosity. Polat composes with freedom and regularly chooses less customary uneven meters, showing affinity with contemporary jazz. In his band, the double bass and drums lay the foundation for melodic ud and piano lines. Nazih Borish ud Mehmet Polat ud, Philipp Rüttgers piano, Daniel van Huffelen double bass, Martin Hafizi drums