Instruments: Arabic Oud and Persian Barbat

Biography:

Hadi Eldebek is an innovative oudist and composer based in New York City. He joins dynamic collectives of musicians in performing music from contemporary and multi-ethnic perspectives; African, Chinese, Greek, Indian, Japanese, Turkish, and more. He attended the Lebanese National Conservatory in Beirut before moving to New York in 2005 to continue his studies with master Oud and Violin player, Simon Shaheen.

In 2009, Hadi began his collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road project as a Teaching Artist for the Silk Road Connect, an approach to teaching that targets upper elementary and middle school students in low-resourced communities, where students are least likely to have access to the transformative power of the arts. From there, in 2010, he joined the Silk Road Ensemble as a performing member, and later as a composer.

In 2013, Hadi expanded his musical ventures by joining the Brooklyn Philharmonic as composer for the Outside-In Fellowship, studying Composition Theory with Randy Woolf. This collaboration resulted in a work for Oud and String Quartet, which was performed on August 3rd, 2014 at the Farkas Theater, Harvard University, with Yo-Yo Ma on Cello, Colin Jacobsen on Violin I, Johnny Gandelsman on Violin II, and Nick Cords on Viola.

In parallel with performance and composition, Mr. Eldebek is an active educator and panelist. Over the last three years, Hadi has participated as faculty in the Harvard Graduate School of Education workshop, Arts and Passion-Drive Learning, leading workshops entitled Traditions of the Middle East (2014-2015) and Percussive Poetry (2013). In the summer of 2013, Eldebek was invited to join the teaching staff at the International Vocal Arts Workshop in Croatia. In 2014, Hadi has presented two seminars about the Transformative Power of Education at the EdLab at Columbia University. In May of 2015, Hadi participated as a panelist on the Cultural Navigation series at Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study. In June of the same year, he participated as faculty in SilkroadbTabls first Global Musician Workshop at DePauw University, Indiana. To date, Hadi has performed as a soloist and an ensemble member in several prestigious venues, including John F. Kennedy Center, Symphony Space, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park Summer Stage, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, United Nations, Le Poisson Rouge, Galapagos Arts Space, and more.

In June 2014, he toured in China presenting traditional Arabic music as well as collaborating with local Chinese musicians on a documentary focused on the ancient Tea and Horse Road. In August 2015, Hadi returned to China where he performed in over 10 cities at venues like the National Center for Performing Arts, Shanghai Concert Hall, DDC, and more. In addition to his tour, he led and helped organize the first World Music and Dance Workshop in Yunnan province, China with 6 faculty members and 16 participants.

In December 2014, Mr. Eldebek was invited by Disney World Imagineering to participate in their cultural summit event, both as a speaker and a panelist, where he represented Arabic Culture through its music and arts. In March 2015, Hadi received an artist-in-residence at the Banff Center in Canada, participating in its first World Music camp: Persian and Eastern Traditions. In addition, he is the recipient of the 2015 Jerome FoundationbTabls Research and Travel Grant, a residence at the Eugene ObTablNeill Theater Center in CT, USA, and an artist-in-residence at the Marble House Project in Vermont, USA.

In November 2015, Mr. Eldebek received a Travel and Study grant from the Jerome Foundation to conduct a research on the music scene and folklore in Lebanon, exploring the rich dynamic fabric that Lebanese society has. Hadi holds a double major degree in Chemistry and Mathematics from the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, as well as supplemental studies in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Columbia University.