“Zina est une grande artiste, tres sensible.

Elle a toujours quelque chose a nous raconter a travers son jeu.”

Jordanian pianist Zina Asfour studied musicology at the Sorbonne and piano at the Ecole Normale Alfred Cortot, Paris and Trinity College of Music, London with the renowned Philip Fowke and the late Raymond Banning.

Zina had the chance to study with the renowned, Michael Wladkowski, Ruth Nuy (Claudio Arrau’s student), Eric Vidonne, Andre Gorog, Colette Fernier, and took masterclasses with world famous pianists such as Pascal Roge, Billy Eidi, Eric le Sage, Kemal Gekic, Laurent Cabasso, Muza Rubackyte and Gulcin Onay.

Throughout her musical career Zina works with several renowned musicians worldwide such as Stephan Moeller, Pierrick Boisseau, Pierre Morabia, Cag Ercag, Tahir Aydogdu, Adrien Frasse Sombet, and Aysu Sadiqova . In 2008 Zina founded Ateek an initiative repesenting contemporary Arab composers and won two grants by The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) for the cd recordings of Tricoter for Trio music with qanun by composers Iyad Mohammad, Tarek Younis, Haithem Sukkarieh and Troubadour cd  which included  newly composed chamber music for the Ateek Ensemble by composers Iyad Mohammad, Tarek Younis, Joelle Khoury and Haitham Sukkarieh. Her latest album entitled Folklore, recorded in France at Malambo Studio with the French cellist Adrien Frasse Sombet, has just been released on the French label Maguelone as well as Naxos and the Fnac. The cd consists of music by  two contemporary Arab composers Boghos Gelalian and Dia Succari .

She is currently working on her new Ateek  project entitled  ‘Poem’  which is a  concert and cd project of music composed by contemporary Arab composers to poems by Arab women. The programme will include a Three songs Cycle ( World Premiere) by Iyad Mohammad on poems by  Mais Taha commissioned for this project as well as songs by Haitham Sukkarieh, Tarek Younis. Wissam Jibran and Dia Succari. The musicians will include Cellist Cag Ercag. Aysu Sadiqova on the qanun and soprano Hala Hachem from Lebanon as well as  Zina on the piano.

Zina has just performed a concert in Beirut in collaboration with the Conservatoire Libanais National Superier de Musique on the 4 th of May 2019 with Turkish renowned cellist Cag Ercag at the Saint Joseph Church – Monot. The programme  included a World Premiere Sonatina for cello and piano by Iyad Mohammad as well as two great sonatas by Shostakovitch and Boghos Gelalian.

Zina performs as soloist and accompanist in different parts of the world such as Istanbul, Beirut, Sharjah, Paris, Nice, Frankfurt and London, she also teaches worldwide.  Her Sarab project for solo piano music with aquarelle colors is to be recorded in Paris and released by 2020.