// ABOUT BBIMF 2025
After the cancellation of BBIMF 2024, we are determined and excited to share that the Beirut and Beyond International Music Festival will be back this year. From December 4th to the 7th, we will be offering a full artistic program at Metro Al Madina, reclaiming
the festival’s regional and international dimension in addition to the professional program.
This year, BBIMF brings together a compelling lineup of artists whose voices speak to the realities, tensions, and possibilities of the region. Their music carries stories of place, displacement, and everything in between — shaped by lived experience translated through music.
The lineup presents artists from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Iran/Egypt, Chile and Tunisia; alongside special guests from near and far. Their music speaks to the realities, tensions, resistance, liberation and possibilities.
// ABOUT THE PROFESSIONAL PROGRAM
The urgent needs of the bustling music scene in the region, which is hardly matched by an infrastructure that drives it to more sustainable grounds, gave birth to our yearly professional program. Happening in parallel to the artistic program, it aims to equip local artists with the right tools to carve their musical future. This is done by making the resources and experience of attending professionals shared and exchanged through a program of panels, workshops, Meet the Artists sessions and more.
//ABOUT BEIRUT AND BEYOND
Back in 2013, Beirut and Beyond came to fruition as a yearly showcase festival, one during which the regional musical talent got the chance to promote their art. The past few years shaped B&B into an entity that additionally fosters the independent music scene’s infrastructure, answering to its needs through development programs and capacity-building initiatives, to name a few.
//ARTISTIC PROGRAM
Thursday Dec 4
BETHLEHEM – LEB/PAL
A collaboration between Wonder Cabinet, Radio al-Hara, Bethlehem choirmaster Lawrence Sammour, and Beirut-based musicians Sary Moussa and Abed Kobeissy, this electro-acoustic work bridges sacred liturgical tradition with experimental electronic sound. First commissioned for Christmas 2023-at a moment when Bethlehem cancelled all celebrations in response to the genocide in Palestine-the piece was broadcast on over fifty radio stations worldwide. Following its live premiere at Le Guess Who?, the project now comes to BBIMF 2025, accompanied by a recording residency and the participation of Makram Aboul Hosn, toward an album and art book to be released in 2026.
FARAH AZRAK – SYR
Farah Azrak is a multidisciplinary artist from Syria, venturing into voice performance, sound, and intermedia processes. Coming from the field of somatics, her work pivots around the body and its inhabited environments and imaginaries. She was recently part of our B&BxProzess Residency Program in Bern, where she spent a month .working on her different sonic projects
MAUD ZEINOUN – LEB
Maud Zeinoun is a Beirut-based singer, songwriter, and music producer whose work explores mental health, annihilation, and recovery. Coming from a cinematic background, she began her sound practice by assembling film monologues, fragments of noise, and field recordings into narrative soundscapes reflecting her inner turmoil. After recovering from a mental episode in 2016, Maud was drawn to moments of quiet resilience — a subtle, enduring hope that brought her back to sound on a nonlinear journey. Influenced by electronica and post-punk, her music blends textured synths, raw vocals, and 1980s-inspired melodies, transforming pain into a melancholic world of tenderness and fury. “For the Waves I Rode / And the Ones That Broke Inside Me” her debut album was released on Ruptured Records on October 31, 2025, mapping the emotional realm of her “dark passenger”.
Maud took part in our Music Production Residency this April, and will be showcasing her work during the festival.
WET SILHOUETTE – LEB
Claudia Khachan (synths, melodica, vocals), Anthony Tawil (drums), and Ziad Moukarzel (bass) have come together experimenting with improvised performances.
Their sound is rich with effortless transitions from freeform rock to noise, seamlessly blending structured songs with spontaneous improvisations.
After seeing their captivating live performances in Beirut, we had to book them for this year’s edition.
YABA & MOUSA – LEB
Yousef Zaher is a Lebanese experimental composer, performer and a saxophone player. Away from the traditional role of the saxophone as a mere melodic instrument, he celebrates the diverse textures and sounds it can produce. This approach influences his compositions, where he blends these textures with electronic sounds, creating an experimental sonic landscape. His music is deeply inspired by the overstimulating chaos of life in Lebanon. It’s his way of processing this anarchy—sometimes by challenging it, other times by embracing it. He often finds himself translating emotions like love and grief, triggered by the chaos, into sound. In his view, music is most meaningful and true when improvised live. Especially, when those improvisations get layered upon each other, the feeling at the instance gets amplified and easily communicated to the audience. That’s exactly what he aims to share in his performances.
Yousef took part in our Music Production Residency this April, and will be showcasing his work during the festival.
Friday, Dec 5
AWTAF – PAL
With a hypnotic flow and lyrics that echo deep nostalgia, Awtaf stands out as more than a rapper, he’s a storyteller. Born in the Yarmouk camp in Damascus to a Palestinian family from Haifa, Sallam Naser found refuge in Drammen, Norway, where his music became his language of healing. With over 140 tracks released, his verses blend raw emotion and personal reflection, offering an intimate look into displacement, memory, and resilience. Every line feels lived, every beat carries a story. Following two years of discussions about a debut show in Beirut, and after being away from the region for 12 years, Awtaf will be taking the BBIMF stage this December.
BARAARI X JULMUD – PAL
Julmud is a music producer/researcher and a sound engineer/designer based in Ramallah. He creates, composes, samples and combines sounds from across the globe to create his own non-generic form of music. He has produced works and collaborated with different artists such as Haykal, Al Nather, Muqata’a, Makimakkuk,
Dakn, Baraari, ABUL3EES and Walaa Sbait among other international and local artists. He is currently in the process of producing a variety of solo and collaborative works. Baraari is a dynamic musician, MC, and singer based in Ramallah, whose work bridges genres and pushes creative boundaries. She has collaborated with prominent local producers such as Julmud, RAMI, Al Nather, and Muqata’a. She released her first two singles in 2023 and she unveiled her debut EP album titled “Ma Zaher” in 2024. Her innovative approach to merging Arabic melodies with diverse genres shows her commitment to creating fresh, boundary-breaking sounds that resonate both locally and internationally.
Both artists will be on stage for this performance during BBIMF 2025.
DAKN – PAL
Dakn is a Berlin-based experimental rapper and producer from Ramallah. As he emerged from the city’s underground music scene, he has built an unparalleled reputation as a thought-provoking lyricist who pushes the boundaries of both the physical and mental realms through his lyrical abilities in the Arabic language. He is also a prolific music producer and collaborator with diverse musical styles and skills. A renowned figure in the SoundCloud world of the SWANA region, Dakn returns to Beirut to spit bars on the BBIMF stage.
DEENA ABDELWAHED – TUN
Deena Abdelwahed is a Tunisian DJ, electronic music composer, and producer, currently based between France and Tunisia. Known for her distinctive fusion of Arabic musical influences with cutting-edge electronic sound design, Deena expresses her creativity through contemporary sonic experiments within the broader framework of Global Club Music.
Having worked together on many projects over the past couple of years, including a Music Production Residency in Cairo, we are thrilled to be booking her for a very special set this edition.
KAYS – LEB
Kays, a South Lebanese music producer, who bridges tradition and innovation through a bold fusion of oriental sounds and electronic textures. Since 2019, his work has evolved from early hip hop and techno experiments into a distinctive sound shaped by the rhythms of traditional Lebanese zaffeh. Driven by a vision to modernize folkloric soundscapes, Kays crafts immersive experiences where ancestral melodies meet contemporary beats. His music invites listeners into a world that’s both rooted and futuristic honoring heritage while pushing the boundaries of sound.
Kays took part in our Music Production Residency this April, and will be showcasing his work during the festival.
WARI – PAL
WARI (a.k.a. “سباع سبع (“is a rapper from Gaza whose raw sound is inseparable from both his identity and the collective struggle of his generation. First debuting with Naja, recorded in Rafah during his displacement, he writes and mixes his own tracks as acts of resistance. His debut album 7BIB ALLAH \| 2025( هللا حبيب, Manjam Records). The project transforms rage and grief into defiant rap anthems, marking WARI as one of the most vital new voices in Palestinian music.
His Beirut debut at the festival coincides perfectly with the recent release of his first album.
Saturday Dec 6
ALBORJ – LEB
Nooreddin aka Alborj, is Lebanese songwriter and producer, producing Shaabi tunes that resonate with his people. Weaving narration with lyrical sounds, his local rough vocals and Bass are sufficient to drown any other sound of sadness. He took part in our Music Production Residency this April, and will be showcasing his work during the festival.
BONNE CHOSE – LEB
Bonne Chose is a fusion trio from Lebanon, focusing on live music and recording, consisting of Abdo Sawma (Drums and percussion), Rami Abou Khalil (Piano, keys and synth), and Charbel Sawma (Bass and Synth). Coming from a country and environment that constantly forces them to live day by day, their music is inspired by the drive to convey emotions of the present moment. With a varying style that slides between experimental jazz, sampling, psychedelic rock, drum n bass and synth wave, this trio brings you a sound reflecting daily lives immersed in uncertainty. Having been part of the first-ever compilation released by B&B following the first Musicians Support Program, it is only natural for us to book the crowd-favorite trio for this edition.
CHARBEL HABER X NICOLAS JAAR X SARY MOUSSA – LEB/CHL Charbel Haber emerged from Beirut’s post-war scene in the late 1990s, blending ambient and electroacoustic sounds with theater, film, and dance collaborations. A founding member of bands such as Scrambled Eggs and The Bunny Tylers, Haber also co-founded influential labels Those Kids Must Choke and Johnny Kafta’s Kids
Menu. His recent project, A Common Misunderstanding of the Speed of Light, released on Nicolás Jaar’s Other People imprint, merges music, poetry, and photography.
Nicolas Jaar, a Chilean American artist, is acclaimed for emotionally rich and sonically adventurous music that spans ambient, experimental pop, and political soundscapes. His multifaceted output includes the collaborative band Darkside and the speculative audio series Archivos de Radio Piedras. Through his label Other People, Jaar supports experimental artists and interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of sound and critical inquiry.
Sary Moussa, also part of Beirut’s underground music scene, crafts intricate compositions that explore personal memory and regional soundscapes. His albums Imbalance and the forthcoming Wind, Again (2025), both on Other People, fuse ambient textures with generative sound design. A key collaborator in Lebanon’s performing arts scene, bridging electronic experimentation and deeply rooted sonic storytelling.
The three musicians collaborate on stage to present their recently-released album “Crashing waves dance to the rhythm set by the broadcast journalist revealing the tragedies of the day”.
KADDOUR X TOHME
Kaddour x Tohme is a musical project made up of Farah Kaddour on buzuq (Tilt, Sanam) and Marwan Tohme on guitar & electronics (Postcards, Sanam, Tunefork Studios). Kaddour’s classical background and modern approach on the Buzuq finds an experimental foil in Tohme’s guitar work and approach to sound and texture. Together they deconstruct and re-imagine folkloric tunes, weaving a musical world of their own. They released their debut album in June 2025 on Lebanese label Ruptured. Coming straight from their UK tour with Sanam, they will be playing their exceptional new album live on the BBIMF stage.
LENA
Lena is an established DJ and music producer based in Beirut. Her music explores the intersection of Arabic rhythms and trap influences, drawing inspiration from styles like trap Sha’abi. Her style thrives on fusing contrasting elements, often combining textures from various genres into a single track that stands out as uniquely her own.
Lena took part in our Music Production Residency this April, and will be showcasing her work during the festival.
NADER KHALIL
Nader Khalil tells the story of identity, resistance, and survival. The Egyptian Iranian rapper, singer, and producer grew up navigating between cultures and continents,
and that tension runs through everything he creates. From his self-produced beats to his haunting vocals, Nader’s music blends Arabic scales, custom synths, and trap elements into a sound that feels as raw as it is innovative. Known for his explosive live shows, Nader brings primal energy that moves crowds, and has recently returned with Nader Khalil 3, his most personal and politically charged album yet. The project showcases his evolution as a producer and vocalist, offering a deeply layered portrait of Arab identity and resilience.
Flying all the way from Boston for his debut show in Beirut on the BBIMF stage, he is bound to land a spot on your playlist.
The Professional Program
Friday 5th of December
5:30pm | Panel | Arab Image Foundation, Hamra
Geographies of Sound: Making Music Across Borders
7:00pm | Spotlight | One Hertz Studios, Hamra
Manjam Records (PAL)
Keife Records (JOR)
Saturday 6th of December
4:30pm | Spotlight | Beirut Art Center, Jisr Elwati
Mottamar (Congress of Electronic and Innovative Arabic Music)
6:00pm | Panel | Beirut Art Center, Jisr Elwati
Funding Without Compromise
Sunday 7th of December
7:30pm | BBIMF 2025 x Rumman | Stereo Kawalis, Tripoli
Beats & Bars with BBIMF2025 artists
