Abed Kobeissy is an electro-acoustic musician based in Beirut. Having taken the Levantine buzuq as his main tool of production, his music holds a strong local identity, without claiming any traditional or ethnic role. His work ranges from solo projects, to collaborations, to music for film, theater, and dance. In 2016 he co-founded the duo Two or The Dragon with Lebanese percussionist Ali Hout. He holds a degree of Masters in Advanced Studies in semiotics of music in Arabic cinema, and has taught for 5 years as a lecturer at the Lebanese American University. His music relies on the local urban soundscape as the main generator of its language, often tackling subjects related to family and home, whereas his work with Two or The Dragon deals with broader themes, and engages more current issues. He is also part of the Libano-German beat-noise quartet Stellar Banger alongside Ali Hout, Joss Turnbull, and Pablo Giw.
He has received various composition commissions, such as The Berlin Biennale 2017, CTM Music Festival Berlin 2020, Irtijal and Huddersfield Music Festival’s commission 2021, and others. He has also been a resident composer with EMS Studios, Stockholm since 2017. He's also written a number of commissioned research in music and musicology.

He has performed solo and collective works, as well as live music for performance arts in Norway, Poland, Sweden, Canada, the UAE, Chile, the USA, the UK, Ireland, in Germany including, France, Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Egypt, and Lebanon, in various festivals and events such as the Berlin Int’l Film Festival, CTM Music Festival, Supersonic Int’l Music Festival, Féstival d’Avignon, and others. 

The duo Two or The Dragon released an album in 2017 titled “Prelude For The Triumphant Man”, as well as numerous albums in collaboration with many other artists and groups from Europe, the Arab world, and Lebanon. the duo will be releasing their 2nd EP in May 2021.

Since 2021, and as an amateur photographer, selections of his photography are being featured and sold at art galleries in Beirut. His work in photography can be seen on this website.
Picture
© Lara Nohra
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