Marsm was formally established in September 2015 by founder-director Khaled Ziada, who already had more than 10 years’ experience showcasing high quality musical productions from the Arab world to large British audiences. Over the past two years, Marsm has started to consolidate a broad network of audiences, artists, partners, and employees. Our partner venues include Barbican, Kings Place, Islington Assembly Hall, Cadogan Hall, Scala, O2 Academy, The Royal College of Music, Manchester and Corporation Sheffield to name but a few. We also work closely with Shubbuk Festival each year. The trust built with these organisations has made it possible to present award-winning, groundbreaking artists from across the Arab world, including Lena Chamamyan, Emel Mathlouthi, Mohamed Assaf, Souad Massi, Lowkey, Cairokee, Yasmine Hamdan and the UK tour of UNESCO Artist for Peace Marcel Khalife. Many of these were performing in the UK for the very first time, but our partner venues have learned to trust that we can attract excellent talent and draw large audiences. One of our biggest achievements was the sell-out concert of Mashrou’ Leila at the Barbican which was simultaneously broadcast live on MTV. We are currently working on a long-term strategy that will enable us to deliver high-quality events and workshops well into the future.