MAZAHER (Egypt)
Friday, 30. October 2026 / 21:45 – 22:45
Amtmandens
The living pulse of Zar tradition
Genres: Zar / Ritual music / Egyptian folk
A performance by Mazaher is unlike almost anything else. Hypnotic, rhythmic and deeply immersive, the Egyptian ensemble carries one of the region’s oldest surviving musical traditions into the present through trance-inducing percussion, call-and-response singing and ritual movement.
Mazaher is among the last active groups preserving the zar tradition in Egypt today — a musical and spiritual practice with roots reaching back to pre-Islamic and pre-Christian traditions across East Africa and the Middle East. Historically led and preserved by women, zar creates spaces for release, healing and collective transformation through rhythm, repetition and movement.
At the center of the music is the ancient tanbura lyre, accompanied by layered percussion and the mangourm, a striking belt adorned with goat hooves that adds both rhythm and physical presence to the ritual atmosphere.
Far from a staged reconstruction, Mazaher keeps this living underground tradition alive in its raw and powerful form. Their performances move beyond concert format and into something physical, communal and deeply affecting.
At Tromsø World 2026, Mazaher invites the audience into an ancient musical world where rhythm becomes connection, trance and release.
