Mohamed Abozekry
was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1991, and when he was ten years old his uncle introduced him to the oud. The following year he entered at the city's 'Beit al-Oud', where he studied with the Iraqi virtuoso Naseer Shamma. He graduated in 2007 at the age of just fifteen and began teaching at the institute, becoming the youngest professor of oud in the Arab world. Soon afterwards he met the guitarist Guillaume Hogan during a concert in Cairo, and it was his influence that led Abozekry to continue his musical studies in France. In 2009 he won first prize at the International Oud Competition in Damascus, Syria and the same year he enrolled at the University of Lyon II in France. He began to explore other musical genres such as jazz and blues, which soon led to the formation of the group Heejaz with several like-minded musicians. They have performed in France, South America, Pakistan and the Middle East and recorded their debut album 'Chaos' in 2013.