| About
Okotécho guides the listener into a sonic world brimming with hope, aspiration, and lyricism found in the exceptional interlude between the Middle East, Arboriginal and the West. Under the artistic direction of composer Katia Makdissi-Warren, Okotécho explores mixed music and musical sounds through its own compositions.
KATIA MAKDISSI-WARREN
Direction artistique & composition
Katia specialized in composition at conservatories in Quebec City and Hamburg, before travelling to Beirut to study Arabic and Syrian music. She has also attended courses given by Franco Donatoni, Ennio Morricone, Manfred Stahnke and Father Louis Hage.
Known for her innovative compositions that offer a unique blend of Middle Eastern and Western musical styles, Katia created the score for the multimedia gallery spaces in the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
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Her compositions have been performed by leading instrumentalists such as Sergio Puccini and Marcel Khalife in countries across the world, including France, Germany, Argentina and Spain.
Last September, she composed the soundtrack for the international TedX congress in Beirut. Her work is regularly broadcast and performed by a variety of prestigious Western and Oriental musical ensembles, including the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental-Arabic Music, the Appassionata ensemble, the Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal(ECM+), as well as the McGill University chamber orchestra.
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Katia is the founder and artistic director of OktoEcho (www. oktoecho.com): a musical ensemble that specializes in fusing Middle Eastern and Western styles. She also works as a composer for a number of music companies, theater and dance troupes, and documentary filmmakers.
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Her work as an artist has garnered her multiple nominations for the Bernard Bonnier and Gala des Masques prizes. In her role as conductor-in-chief, she has headed the contemporary music group, Erreur de Type 27 (E27) in Quebec City and the musical, Les Misérables, which played to great acclaim at the Capitole Theater in Quebec City. When the city hosted the international guitar festival, she was second conductor to Léo Brower.