Funded: £9,988
Maya Youssef, dubbed Queen of the Qanun, is a Syrian musician and composer. In 2012, she arrived in the UK under Tier 1 visa and was endorsed by Arts Council England as an Exceptional Talent. Her first album, Syrian Dreams, received huge critical acclaim. For her second album, Finding Home, she wanted to explore the idea of memories and the essence of home – a journey through loss, transcendence, magic and a final arrival in a hopeful place of “home”, literally, emotionally, spiritually, however that may look for each person. And as part of the tour, she wanted to make sure she could also run refugee community workshops across the UK, educational activities for young composers/orchestras and schools, and a tour initiative to reserve tickets for refugees.
For Finding Home, she chose to crowdfund her album because, as she says, “I’ve found the reward of ‘doing it WITH my fans’ to be better than anything I could imagine. I always feel so blessed by the support of my fans. I call them my troupe of earth angels and so excited to do this TOGETHER.”
Jo is absolutely incredible. If you are considering doing any form of crowdfunding, you need Jo by your side. period! She is not only incredibly lovely to work with, but also has a way of breaking mammoth-size tasks into small manageable steps that anyone can follow. Thanks to Jo’s help I have not only reached my goal but exceeded it by 34%! I am so grateful to Jo and simply can’t recommend her enough.
Maya Youssef
Since funding:
At the time of writing, Maya is beginning to send out rewards for backers, and plans are underway for next year’s tour. Find out all the latest.