Dr. Insia Malik is a versatile violinist with experience in a wide array of styles and languages of artistic expression. Her musical encounters have unfolded at off-Broadway theaters, restaurants, and venues as varied as Le Poisson Rouge, Carnegie Hall, Bowery Poetry Club, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the TriBeCa Film Festival, the Festival Jazz Perú Internacional in Lima, and a living room near you. You might find her air-bowing Vivaldi in a comedy sketch on NBC’s Saturday Night Live or jamming at a Beirut nightclub.
Insia began her music career in the worlds of classical and contemporary music. Since 2011, Insia has also become a performer of Arab musical styles and traditions. Pursuing serious study of the Arabic violin with prominent New York-based master musicians Simon Shaheen and the late Bassam Saba, she has also shared the stage with both artists, as well as with the late riqq legend Michel Merhej. She has been a frequent participant at Shaheen’s annual Arabic Music Retreat, where she has also studied the 'ud. Insia has performed with the New York Arabic Orchestra at venues such as Symphony Space, Merkin Hall, Detroit Symphony Hall, and Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors. She currently appears regularly with the Detroit-based National Arab Orchestra (NAO), an ensemble bringing together musicians from across the country to present traditional repertoire. With the NAO, she has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and at the Ithra Cultural Center in Saudi Arabia. She is also in the ensemble of Brooklyn-based Iraqi singer Zahra AlZubaidi, and can generally be sighted playing frequently in the Brooklyn Arabic music scene.
Insia’s interactions with the rich musical traditions of the Middle East have opened her up to diverse artistic projects that draw on far-flung idioms, improvisation, and innovative modal and rhythmic colors. Insia is recognized for her deep soulful tone on the fiddle, proficiency in learning new music both by ear and with quick transcriptions, and the ability to transcend cultures and traditions with a style all her own.
Insia completed double bachelor degrees in Violin Performance (in the studio of Gregory Fulkerson) and Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies at New York University. She earned her Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York in 2022. She is an educator and violin instructor, and currently holds a violin teaching position at the United Nations International School. She was previously a violin coach for the InterSchool Orchestras of New York (ISO). Insia has been invited to the Manhattan School of Music and New York University to speak about Middle Eastern musics and history as well as to demonstrate concepts of music theory and performance on the violin. Insia is also an Assistant Editor at RILM (Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale).
Insia began her music career in the worlds of classical and contemporary music. Since 2011, Insia has also become a performer of Arab musical styles and traditions. Pursuing serious study of the Arabic violin with prominent New York-based master musicians Simon Shaheen and the late Bassam Saba, she has also shared the stage with both artists, as well as with the late riqq legend Michel Merhej. She has been a frequent participant at Shaheen’s annual Arabic Music Retreat, where she has also studied the 'ud. Insia has performed with the New York Arabic Orchestra at venues such as Symphony Space, Merkin Hall, Detroit Symphony Hall, and Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors. She currently appears regularly with the Detroit-based National Arab Orchestra (NAO), an ensemble bringing together musicians from across the country to present traditional repertoire. With the NAO, she has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and at the Ithra Cultural Center in Saudi Arabia. She is also in the ensemble of Brooklyn-based Iraqi singer Zahra AlZubaidi, and can generally be sighted playing frequently in the Brooklyn Arabic music scene.
Insia’s interactions with the rich musical traditions of the Middle East have opened her up to diverse artistic projects that draw on far-flung idioms, improvisation, and innovative modal and rhythmic colors. Insia is recognized for her deep soulful tone on the fiddle, proficiency in learning new music both by ear and with quick transcriptions, and the ability to transcend cultures and traditions with a style all her own.
Insia completed double bachelor degrees in Violin Performance (in the studio of Gregory Fulkerson) and Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies at New York University. She earned her Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York in 2022. She is an educator and violin instructor, and currently holds a violin teaching position at the United Nations International School. She was previously a violin coach for the InterSchool Orchestras of New York (ISO). Insia has been invited to the Manhattan School of Music and New York University to speak about Middle Eastern musics and history as well as to demonstrate concepts of music theory and performance on the violin. Insia is also an Assistant Editor at RILM (Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale).