MAZAHER
4/11/2026
Doors: 20:00 // Admission: 140 DKK
Mazaher invites us into the Zar tradition – an ancient musical and spiritual ritual carried primarily by women through generations in Egypt and other parts of the region. Through polyrhythmic drumming, singing, dance and the distinctive tamboura, the ensemble creates an intense and sensory space where music becomes connection, trance and collective movement.
This tour marks the ensemble’s final one, making this a rare and special opportunity to experience the Zar tradition carried by some of its last remaining practitioners here in Aarhus.
PROGRAM
➤ Doors open: 20:00
➤ First act (TBA): 20:00
➤ Mazaher: 21:30
MAZAHER
Mazaher is one of the few ensembles in which women play the leading role in preserving Zar – an ancient musical and spiritual tradition practiced in Egypt and several other parts of the region. The musicians Um Sameh, Um Hassan and Nour El Sabah are among the last remaining Zar practitioners in Egypt.
Mazaher’s music is inspired by three different forms of Zar in Egypt: Egyptian or Upper Egyptian Zar, Abul Gheit Zar, and Tamboura or African Zar. The tradition is built around singing, polyrhythmic drumming, dance and repetition, where music becomes a space for release, balance and connection.
Over time, Zar has often been misunderstood as a form of exorcism, but the ritual is in fact about creating harmony between a person’s inner and outer life. Through the insistent movement of rhythm, the music can lead participants into trance and altered states of consciousness – a physical and spiritual purification seeking calm and release.
A central instrument in the Zar tradition is the tamboura, a six-string lyre with roots stretching from East Africa to the Arabian Peninsula and Persia. Together with the mangour – a leather belt sewn with goat hooves – and various percussion instruments, it forms the foundation of Mazaher’s distinctive sonic universe.
Because Zar has long existed as a marginalized underground culture, the tradition has survived without major outside interference. At the same time, the ritual is now close to disappearing, and only a few musicians still carry knowledge of the Zar musical heritage. Mazaher are among the last keepers of this living cultural tradition.