In the sacred space they carve through music, Maissa and Paja journey toward the homeland note—like that essential tonic where all wandering melodies find their center. Their collaboration becomes a sonic excavation that unearths ancestral rhythms while forging new pathways of expression, challenging listeners to hear the unspoken histories that live within each carefully crafted note. As they weave together new compositions and contemporary interpretations of traditional Arabic music from Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt, Maissa's voice carries the distinctive quarter tones and ornamentations of Arabic maqams alongside Paja's responsive piano, creating a dialogue in sound. Through their art, the homeland tonic reveals itself not as a fixed destination but as the vibrational inheritance we carry within—transforming through our expression yet never losing its fundamental resonance.

About the musicians:

Maissa Alameddine grew up in Tripoli Lebanon and now lives and works on the unceded lands of the Cammeraygal and Dharug peoples. Maissa is an interdisciplinary artist, vocalist, songweaver, performer, and creative producer. Maissa inherited her voice from a long line of women vocalists, she uses voice as a provocation and a response. Her interpretive song and music is an attempt to honour her ancestors accessing her maqam learnings through oral traditions.

Pavle Cajic is a pianist and composer of a western classical background. Through their original compositions, they are passionate about using music as a vehicle to express the beautiful and tragic depth of our experience on this Earth. Paja has also recently been curiously exploring the practices of microtonal music and venturing into the world of improvisational jazz through new found collaborations into music-making.