Artist Portrait No. 1: Omar Shahryar (composer, facilitator, peace maker)

Omar Shahryar calls himself a composer, facilitator and peace-maker. We talk about the meaning and importance of an education in the arts, letting go of the perfection and expectations drilled into academically-trained artists, re-thinking the idea of an audience and – don’t worry – we also talk about getting that all-important funding for indie projects. Links: Omar's website: http://omarshahryar.info/ Opera Schmopera's website: http://www.operaschmopera.co.uk/ Channel 4 News report on the children's opera Shoe Full of Stars: https://www.channel4.com/news/students-stage-opera-about-terrorism-threat Music on this episode: NELV collective: "Trust the Person": https://soundcloud.com/user-126957820/trust-the-person Excerpts from the children's opera A Shoe Full of Stars (Words by Ed Harris Music by Omar Shahryar and students from North Huddersfield Trust School Ensemble: Dark Inventions Conducted by Christopher Leedham Soprano: Lizzie Holmes Baritone: Neil Balfour) All 4 minutes of our improv are available to patrons of the On the Verge Series! You can sign up for a free trial here: https://steadyhq.com/en/opera-on-the-verge 💋👁👂🏼 Artists on the Verge website: ⁠www.artists-on-the-verge.com⁠ 👀 Instagram: @artists_on_the_verge