‘In orbit, you’re keyed up and aware of everything going on, every little noise, anything that may have special meaning because of where you are.’– John Glenn

Madar (literarily an ‘Orbit’) is a group of five musicians from the Netherlands, Palestine, Jordan and Tunisia. With genuine curiosity for and understanding of each other’s musical language, they have come together with the purpose of creating something new, built on a deeply shared respect for the qualities of their various musical worlds.

Acamar, from the Arabic Ākhir an-nahr, meaning "the end of the river", is a star located in the constellation Eridanus, variously associated by ancient astronomers with rivers across the Mediterranean and Middle-East, including the Nile, Po and Euphrates. The music in this album is inspired by the classical civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean, and which relied in daily life upon an understanding of the cosmos.

Tony Overwater is an award winning bass player whose sound and unique way of playing have established him as a key player in the European music world. He is a remarkable solo performer and leader of his own projects but also a collaborative and attentive sideman. He is well known for his pioneering work in Arab music.
In 1995 Tony Overwater went on tour with the Yuri Honing Trio through the Middle East, notably Lebanon and Syria, and fell in love with Arab music culture. He met musicians from lebanon, Syria and Iraq and started a long time collaboration with the Lebanese singer Rima Khcheich.
He has been involved in Arab music ever since and developed a unique new playing style on the acoustic bass which allows him to play the microtonality of the Arab scales. He has been studying the maqams (scales), rhythms and songs of classical Arab music. He recorded several albums with Rima Khcheich and eventually became the musical director of her ensemble. Regularly Rima Khcheich and Tony Overwater play duo concerts in which they perform classical Arab music in muwashah style in which the acoustic bass replaces the Oud. This has never been done before and is highly successful at festivals around the world.
Tony Overwater played concerts with many arab musicians among which Moroccan ud player Said Chraibi, Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh and Algerian violinist Kheiredinne M’Kachiche.
He started a salon of Arab music in the Netherlands, Salon Joussour, creating a bridge between musicians from the Middle East and Europe.
in 2009, together with pianist Rembrandt Frerichs and percussionist/drummer Vinsent Planjer, Tony Overwater formed the Rembrandt Frerichs Trio. Three musicians with strong interest and highly developed skills in Arab music and with roots in Western classical music and jazz united in the trio to play with different guest musicians from the Middle East.
Tony Overwater has created the music for many documentaries, among which the Berlin Award winning documentary Justice For Sergei and Om de Oude Wereldzee about Dutch politician Abraham Kuyper.

Meet Maarten Ornstein. He plays reeds, and is a composer.
Of today’s music. This music. In his own words: “This is what I do.” Ornstein is known for his work as an improvisor. After all, lots of roles fit this Dutchman who as a soloist joined forces with Audible Lifestream, SfeQ, The Schönberg Ensemble, The Houdini’s, The Ebony Band, various ensembles led by Tony Overwater, and the Martin Fondse Oktemble. He is also composer and arranger for The New Cool Collective Big Band and some of the aforementioned groups. Previously, he recorded with most of them all and many others. As an instrumentalist Ornstein integrates lyrical fluidity and imagination with maximum control on his reed instruments - mostly clarinet, bass clarinet and tarogato (a sort of wooden soprano saxophone of Romanian and Hungarian origin). Both as a player and composer/ arranger he is in command of his notes, and, while he’s on them, controls your state of mind too. Therefore Turtle Records is very proud to present Ornstein’s first. His first solo recording and his first recorded composed contemporary music that is. “I just wrote down what I like”, he states. Ornstein likes the combined sound of bassoon, various clarinets and the nowadays very rare C melody saxophones, sometimes united with percussion and the human voice. Do not call it classical, neo classical, jazz, worldmusic or worse: modern music. With his W.A.R.P. Ensemble Ornstein plays music that is all written down, yet very alive, and integrates various style elements of the here and now. It’s hip, and it’s serious. It’s of today, and it’s timeless. It challenges the listener, and it is a pure joy to listen to.

Violinist, composer, musicologist and teacher, Jasser Haj Youssef is one of the most outstanding musicians of his generation.

Jasser Haj Youssef plays viola d’amore, classical violin, composes, directs and performs with numerous artists from all walks of life from Barbara Hendricks to Youssou N’Dour or Sister Marie Keyrouz, stars of the opera world and the flamboyant diva Simone Kermes.

Graduated with a degree in Music, Musicology and Education, Jasser performs worldwide and recently he directed the Chamber Orchestra of Paris at the Philharmonie of Paris, in France.

The tunisian prodigy records his first album SIRA with his jazz quartet, classic and baroque musicians. Sira music is inspired by the Arabic Maqâm and Jazz.

Through his latest album RESONANCE, « Jasser Haj Youssef has opened a new way for the viola d’amore (a huge baroque violin with seven melodious strings and a variable number of nice strings) offering all modern oriental music liberties… Played by him, the viola d’amore becomes the most ecstatic and confidential instrument in the history of music. Jasser Haj Youssef surprises, upsets and transforms. »

Poetic, with a plural creation that opens the horizon and liberates music.

Nizar Rohana is an acclaimed Palestinian Oud player, distinguished for combining virtuosity within fresh contemporary compositions while maintaining the Oud’s idiomatic language.

Born in 1975 in the village of ‘Isifya on Mount Carmel, near Haifa, Rohana grew up in a musical family, with his father playing the Oud at communal celebrations and his mother accompanying him on percussion. He began playing music early, picking up the Oud at age 12.

In 2000, Rohana graduated from the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem, where he learned Oud from Tayseer Elias and Naseem Dakwar, while concentrating on Arabic music theory and aesthetics under the mentorship of Khaled Jubran. In 2004, he completed a Master’s degree in musicology at the Hebrew University with a specialization in the songs of Umm Kulthum, composed by Muhammad al-Qasabji.

Rohana became a prominent figure in the Palestinian music scene through his various collaborations, including work with percussionist Youssef Hbeisch and singer Sanaa Moussa to explore new interpretations of Palestinian folklore. His teaching career at the Edward Said National Conservatory in Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem further solidified his impact, eventually leading him to the role of deputy for academic affairs.

In 2008, Rohana shifted his focus to a solo career and released his debut album, Sard (Narration). His passion for innovation led him to study composition with the renowned Palestinian composer Bishara Khell in 2012. Since then, under Khell’s supervision, he has dedicated himself to crafting contemporary Oud compositions, taking inspiration from the techniques of prominent 20th-century middle-eastern composers like Tanburi Cemil Bey and Muhammad Abd al-Wahab, as well as Western composers such as Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin.

Amid the deteriorating political situation following the Second Intifada and the Iraq war, Rohana moved to Europe to advance his music career, eventually settling in the Netherlands in 2013. Shortly before his move, he formed the Nizar Rohana Trio with the late Hungarian double bassist Mátyás Szandai and French percussionist Wassim Halal, releasing the album Furat (Euphrates) in 2016.

In the Netherlands, Rohana teamed up with acclaimed bass player Tony Overwater to form the Madar Ensemble, which also featured clarinetist Maarten Ornstein, Tunisian violinist Jasser Haj Youssef, and Jordanian percussionist Nasser Salameh. Their album, Acamar, was released in May 2019.

Rohana continued his academic journey, earning a PhD in practice-led research from Leiden University’s Academy for Creative and Performing Arts in 2021. His thesis showcased new compositions for solo Oud, influenced by the improvisational styles of Egyptian music legends Muhammad al-Qasabji and Riyad al-Sunbati.

For over two decades, Rohana has performed on prestigious stages and at festivals worldwide. His extensive stage experience as both a soloist and ensemble member, covers modal, improvisational, experimental, and modern music. In addition to performing, Rohana frequently serves as a guest lecturer at institutions such as Codarts and the University of Amsterdam.

Recently, Nizar Rohana released Safa (Purity), his first album dedicated to solo oud performances, through the Australian label Worlds Within Worlds. Looking ahead, he is reimagining his trio with renowned Dutch double bass player Tony Overwater and esteemed German percussionist Ruven Ruppik, with plans to release a new album in Autumn 2025. Additionally, he is working on another project, Sujuud (Adoration), in collaboration with Iranian oud master Yasamin Shahhosseini and percussionist Ruven Ruppik, supported by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC).