Layth Sidiq was born in Iraq and grew up in Jordan, where he studied violin at the National Music Conservatory in Amman before moving to the USA to study at Berklee College of Music. His music blends maqam-based improvisation with Western harmonic structures in a reflection of his transnational upbringing and artistic vision. Currently, he is the artistic director of the New York Arabic Orchestra and the director of the Center for Arabic Culture’s Youth Orchestra Program. Sidiq has also worked with the Lebanon-based Kayany Foundation to help provide music education for Syrian refugee children, and developed an Iraqi music curriculum for schoolchildren in the United States as part of Carnegie Hall’s Musical Explorers programme.