In Collaboration with the Australian Embassy

JOSEPH TAWADROS (AM) b. Cairo, Egypt. 1983 

‘’Tawadros is an exhilarating player, both when he is delivering mercurial mastery and when he is summoning more haunting atmospheres, 

often incorporating techniques drawn from 

other traditions, including western rock music. ‘’

– The Times U.K. 

Joseph Tawadros is a magnetic presence, shredding on the oud like a Paganini, an Eddie Van Halen. His mastery of the instrument is palpable.

– Limelight magazine

Joseph Tawadros AM is a leading Oud virtuoso, composer and 8-time ARIA-award winner.

Born in Cairo, his chosen instrument, the Oud is an Arabic lute, the ancestor of the lute and modern guitar. 

A virtuoso of diversity and sensitivity, Joseph performs in concert halls worldwide and is known for his brilliant technique, deep musicianship, storytelling and joyous style of performance.

Joseph’s drive to push musical boundaries has inspired collaborations with diverse performers and a solid repertoire of innovative, original music. He performs live as a soloist, in duo with his brother James on Egyptian percussion, with his jazz quartet or with chamber orchestras and symphony orchestras all over the world.

Joseph has performed his own works with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony, Melbourne, WA and Adelaide Symphony, The Brodsky Quartet, Ukraine National Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, the Morphing Chamber Orchestra and his Concerto for Oud & Orchestra with the Sydney Symphony was performed and released by ABC Classics, Australia in 2019. He was also the first and only Australian composer to be performed by the Academy of Ancient Music in the United Kingdom.

He has recorded his music with many jazz luminaries such as John Abercrombie, Jack de Johnette, Roy Ayers, John Patitucci, Bela Fleck, Mike Stern, Joey DeFrancesco, Richard Bona, Fathy Salama and Christian McBride. Classical collaborations include Richard Tognetti, William Barton, The Grigoryan Brothers, Christian Lindberg, Gurrumul, James Crabb and his songs have been performed/recorded by The Song Company and counter-tenor Andreas Scholl. 

His oud can also be heard in films and TV such as Ali’s Wedding, The Last Days of Yasser Arafat, Paper Giants; the birth of Cleo, I Remember 1948, The Water Diviner, Checkpoint, The Tentmakers of Cairo, All About E, Love Marriage in Kabul, The Portal, Haneen, The Black Balloon, The Transfer, Memory Film; a Filmakers Diary, House of Cards and The Last Ride starring Hugo Weaving.

2023 highlights include performing at the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and the premiere of his new work ‘The Three Stages of Hindsight’ with the prestigious Britten Sinfonia. He also performed a sell-out Australian tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra led by Richard Tognetti. He is also one of the 50 Australian composers to be chosen to write a fanfare celebrating the Sydney Opera House’s 50th birthday. Finishing off the year Tawadros performed a record breaking 25 hours of continuous oud playing at the Kings College Chapel in London, raising £25,000 for charity.

It’s been a busy 2024 with a tour of America, Australia and Hong Kong performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons amongst his own compositions with the Australian Chamber Orchestra; a Canadian debut as a soloist with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal conducted by Maestro Rafael Payare, performing in front of 15,000 people at the Olympic Stadium and an induction into the Australian National Film and Sound Archive. 

Joseph was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia for services to music in 2016.