James Tawadros

James Tawadros was born in Australia in January, 1989. The brother of oud virtuoso Joseph Tawadros he was brought up in an environment which encouraged music, his grandfather being Mansi Habib, an oud and violin virtuoso (1920-1957), and his uncle Yacoub Mansi Habib the legendary Egyptian trumpet pioneer. Although only 17yrs of age, James has already made a name for himself as a world class percussionist and soloist, and is receiving praise reserved for those well beyond his years. His main instrument is the Req’, a small hand held tambourine, traditionally with skin covering and five pairs of cymbals.He has performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and with such artists such as Slava and Leonard Grigoryan, Richard Tognetti, Katie Noonan Alister Spence, Abdo Dagher, James Crabb, Mark Isaacs, Jeremy Alsop, Mary Doumany, Al Slavik, William Barton and regularly accompanies his brother in concert.In 2005 he was invited along with his brother by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to perform a concert at the Cairo Opera House, and his been featured in many interviews in both Egyptian radio and TV. In the same year he was invited by Oud virtuoso Adel Salameh (France/Palestine) and singer Naziha Azzouz to tour Australia and New Zealand with them, performing in Womadelaide, Womad New Zealand, and the Global Beats Festival at the Sydney Opera House, he was also invited by famous Israeli musician Yair Dalal in an all star jam.James has performed at Carnivale, the 2003 Asian Music and Dance Festival at the Sydney Opera House, the Bellingen Festival, Institute Du Monde Arabe (Paris) National Multicultural Festival, Womadelaide, Womad New Zealand, Global Roots Festival, Huntington Festival and the BMW Theatre Melbourne. In 2006 James was invited by the Australian Chamber Orchestra as a guest soloist for “The Travellers” national tour, the first tour kicking off the ACO’s 30th season. Later on in the year, he and his brother Joseph’s latest album “Visions” was nominated for ‘Best World Music Album 2006’ in the Australian Record Industry Awards (ARIA).