About this episode
I’m delighted to welcome Maya Youssef, the world-renowned "Queen of the qanun" and innovative British-Syrian educator .You can also watch on YouTube, and the transcript is linked as well to my website: Maya shares with us how her frustrations with the traditional teaching of Arabic music led her to develop her unique system for teaching musicians and dancers in a completely different way. She also shared her past personal crisis as a victim of domestic abuse and how she found the strength to get out of that danger, which is shockingly pervasive. In fact, she said that she chooses to be vulnerable in sharing this because we never know who is listening. You will be uplifted with clips from Maya’s beautiful second album Finding Home, which I encourage you to buy, and you’ll find all Maya’s projects linked in her website . She also talked to me about her exciting upcoming projects in 2026, including her book about learning and teaching Arabic music, her upcoming album and tours, and her wonderful collaborators. Maya spent the interview with her kanun and you’ll hear her demonstrate several times, including a beautiful improvisation on maqam Rast.NewsletterPodcast MerchBuy me a coffee to support this series? Thanks!I’ve linked several episodes I’m sure you’ll love: Ali Omar El-Farouk Shirley Kazuyo MuramotoKelly ThomaMohamed Assani Olcay Bayir(00:00) Intro (02:07) the kanun with demonstrations (08:15) Maya’s youth in Syria (12:38) clip of Silver Lining and more about Maya’s musical education (19:57) challenges with learning taqsim, and how she developed her method (31:13) qanun music: taqsim on maqam Rast (
