About Maren

Maren Lueg

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Instruments: Soprano, Alto, Tenor Saxophone, Silver and Wooden Flutes, Turkish and Arabic Ney Flutes, Indian Bansuri Flute, Mizmar and Zurna.
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Theater: Arts in Motion and Royal Shakespeare Company.
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TV: BBC2 Glastonbury Live
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Festivals: Bergen Festival in Norway, Womad, Glastonbury, Edinburgh Fringe, Shambala, Bath Fringe, Trowbridge, Highland and Island Festival.
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Education: BA Music Performance UHI with Distinction.
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Workshops: Bristol University, Drum Camp, Tribe of Doris, Majma dance Festival.
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Venues: Courtyard Theater Stratford upon Avon, St Georges Hall Bristol, Klankosmos Hagen Germany, Darabuka Club London, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, National Museum in Edinburgh, Burrell Arts Collection in Glasgow and at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh.
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Maren was born and raised in Germany and is now resident in the UK. From an early age, Maren was inspired by the sound of Turkish and East European music. She studied Saxophone with Martin Verborg in Hagen, a well-established musician, accomplished in Jazz and Eastern European music.
During the nineteenth Maren traveled around Europe playing jazz, blues and Eastern European music.
In 2003, Maren worked for the company “Arts in Motion” in Scotland as a musical director, for the Music-Theatre production “The Nub”.
This involved arranging, composing and performing music for the show.
Maren graduated with a Distinction in BA in Music Performance at the Highland & Island University, Scotland in June 2004.
After that she joined the Babylon Arabic Band led by the Edinburgh based Iraqi singer and Oud player Mohammed Nafee, playing traditional Arabic music from Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. She first performed with Mohammed Nafee at the Arabian Nights events and for the Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace festival in February 2005 at the St. Bride Centre in Edinburgh.
As well as playing for celebrations of the Iraqi community in Glasgow and Edinburgh, the band also plays for Celtic and World Music events in Scotland. They also performed at the Edinburgh International Festival 2005 in the National Museum in Edinburgh and released their first CD “Samara” in November 2005.
In 2006 Maren performed for delegates at the European Conference of Department for Work and Pensions, in the Burrell Arts Collection in Glasgow and at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh where they provided a background of European folk music.

In 2005, The Scottish Arts Council awarded Maren a grant from the Professional Development fund to travel to Israel for 2 months to study with the internationally renowned artist and World Music nominated Master of Arabic music: Yair Dalal.
Maren was invited to join his study group in Israel Jaffa and receiving daily one to one tuition with Yair Dalal in November to December 2005.
She studied the theory of Middle Eastern folk and classical music in relationship to the western music theory. Yair Dalal taught her how to play Arabic scales and melodies on western instruments and she took tuition for the Ney Flute, which is one of the most ancient Middle Eastern Instruments, which can be dated back 5000 Years ago.
She performs now regularly with British and Arab musicians across the UK and has studied such traditional Middle Eastern wind instruments as the Nay (bamboo flute) and Zurna (double reed pipe) in Turkey and Egypt. Maren is currently working on her Masters in Arabic Ney and Middle Eastern Music at the School of Oriental and African Studies (London University). She has performed Middle Eastern Music at many festivals as such the Womad, Glastonbury Festivals and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and taught courses in Middle Eastern music at the Bristol University, Doris World Music Summer School, Majma Dance Festival and at the Middle Eastern Music and Dance Camp, Rocksea Camp in the Sinai in Egypt and the Middle Eastern Music and Dance Camp UK.
Maren has composed music for film and performed as a Theater musician for the Arabian Night Theater Show produced by the RSC Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon in December 2009 – January 2010.

Maren at the Arabian Nights Show produced by the RSC Royal Shakespeare Company, in Stratford upon Avon.