Facilitator

José is a Chilean musician and his focus is in both, electronic music and percussion. He was the musical director of two Afro-Latin American dance companies in Chile: Logunede Dance and Music Company and Mestizo.

Currently he is a member of Bristol Branch, Los Chicanos, Latina Turner Salsa Band, , all of them based in Edinburgh.

Also he leads projects involving the building and playing of ‘cajon’ with community groups, and runs percussion workshops in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

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Persian Classical Singer for 10 years. Masters in Animal Genetics and Breeding. Aref Ghorbani is an Iranian classically trained musician who came to Scotland as a refugee in 2018.

He is a key member of the Musicians in Exile community project, which brings together asylum-seeking and refugee musicians in Glasgow, they won the 2019 Scotland's National Diversity Award for Community Organisation: Race, Faith, Religion.

Harpist, composer and singer Esther Swift is internationally recognised for her contribution to the pedal harp and her distinct compositions and songwriting style. She is a leader in creative collaboration in Scotland having worked with The Unthanks, Cherry Ghost, Jimmy Goodwin, Aidan O’Rourke, Matt Collings, Chris Wood, Siobhan Wilson, Kirsty Logan and Kirsty Law, among others.

She has been commissioned to write compositions for Enterprise Music Scotland, Manchester Jazz Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Wales International Harp Festival, Ayrshire Opera, The Scottish Forestry Commission, The Peebles Orchestra, Polaris Duo and her harp teacher at the RNCM Eira Lynn Jones.

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Scottish, Edinburgh based guitarist, influenced by many different styles from around the world. Instrumental compositions and songs are created drawing on these influences and the experience I have had over almost 40 years of playing with a variety of bands.

‘The Other’ is a project I launched in 2019, initially working with 4 musicians from Iran, collaborating on compositions that were inspired by everyone’s various backgrounds and cultures and the instruments from Iran. We performed at The Pianodrome during the Fringe 2019.

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Born in Sao Paulo-Brazil, Mario moved to Scotland for studies, where was invited to join the Tommy Smith Sextet Beasts of Scotland , and later , the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. He has played with many of the leading jazz musicians in the U.K such as : Tommy Smith, Kenny Wheeler, Carol Kidd, Norma Winston, Louise Gibson, Suzanne Bonnar, Phil Bancroft, Andy Panaiy, Tom Bancroft, Jamie Anderson, Brian Kellock, Steve Hamilton, John Rae, Clark Tracey, Tom Gordon, Jason Rebello, Gene Calderazzo, Kevin McKenzie, Alex Yellowlees, Nigel Clark, Malcom MacFarlane, Paul Harrison, Paddy Flaherty, Dave Milligan, Guy Barker, Eddie Severn, Gerard Presencer, Colin Steele, Andor Jensen, Claude Deppa, Dominic Alldis and Adam Glasser among others. He has also played with leading North American artists such as Bobby Watson, Scott Hamilton, Joe Locke, Valery Ponomarev and Madeline Eastman.

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Matthew Wright is a creative producer, science communicator, musician and maker. He has created thriving community projects, exhibitions, workshops and events, both in Edinburgh and internationally. He writes, records and performs as part of a number of musical outfits, including with his long-standing Edinburgh-based band S!nk.

He is a multi-instrumentalist playing soprano & tenor sax, home-made steel tongue drums, whistle and piano.

Matt is a founding Director of Pianodrome CIC, the organisation behind the world’s first 100-seater amphitheatre constructed entirely from pianos. A unique playable community sculpture, and radical re-imagining of the piano in today’s throw away culture, the Pianodrome functions as an accessible setting for performance, education and participation. From community builds to live performances and a piano re-housing scheme, they have welcomed volunteers, won awards, supported musicians of all ages and championed up-cycling.

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I am Erfan, I started playing the frame drum in 2009 when I was 8 years old. The frame drum I play is a very old Iranian percussion instrument. It has a wooden frame with rings attached to it and a skin stretched around the frame, it is called a Daf.

I started playing in a band 2 years after I started learning Daf. In a band called Andalib ensemble. When I came to the UK in 2019, I had no access to any instruments for four months, which was very hard for me as the worst thing you can do to a musician is to take their instrument away. After my instrument got posted to the UK, finding music projects and healthy communities was a challenge for me until recently and in 2022 I began to feel that I have finally settled here, and now I am also playing with other musicians again.

He has performed in many different countries such as Iran, Italy, Germany and the UK and recorded albums with various multi ethnic bands.

His past work as an experienced facilitator and trainer, with Music for Wellness that he ran from 2018 - 2019, focused on creativity and team building. By conducting various rhythm, drum circle and body percussion workshops, to advance education, health and creative development.

He now devotes his time in other areas as professional percussionist.

Luci Holland is an award-winning Scottish (Edinburgh-based) composer and sound artist who composes and produces music and audiovisual art for film, games and concert.

In 2019 Luci joined new classical music station Scala Radio to present The Console, a weekly one-hour show dedicated to celebrating great music in games. She was also a BAFTA Scotland Game juror in 2016, 2019 and 2020; a BAFTA Game Music juror in 2021; a former IGDA Scholar; became an Ambassador with the Women in Games Ambassador programme in 2020; and joined the BAFTA Games Crew in 2021.

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Graduated from Conservator Tehran and he has played Tar, Setar and Oud for 20 years, he is also a gifted singer and performer.

First settling Glasgow he performed with Musicians in Exile, bringing together asylum-seeking and refugee musicians , they won the 2019 Scotland's National Diversity Award for Community Organisation: Race, Faith, Religion.

He was involved with ‘The Others’ in 2019, -2021 collaborating on compositions with a diverse range of musicians, refugees, immigrants and Scots.

Kayhan is a poet, singer and player of the Ney.

First settling Glasgow he performed with Musicians in Exile, bringing together asylum-seeking and refugee musicians , they won the 2019 Scotland's National Diversity Award for Community Organisation: Race, Faith, Religion.

He was involved with ‘The Other’ in 2019, collaborating on compositions with a diverse range of musicians, refugees, immigrants and Scots.

He now lives in London.Description goes here