Hawar Tawfiq (1982) was born in Sulaymaniya in the Kurdish northern part of Iraq. From an early age he receives violin lessons from Kurdish teachers who themselves studied in Bagdad with Russian teachers from Moscow.
In 1998 Tawfiq flees Kurdistan and after a perilous journey of several months he arrives in the Netherlands as an unaccompanied underage asylum seeker. His musical talents do not remain unnoticed thanks to a teacher in the refugee center who by chance discovers his gift and brings him into contact with the conservatory in Tilburg. The young musician seizes his opportunity with both hands and turns into a true virtuoso. He studies violin with Annemieke Corstens and Alexander Kerr, and composition with Alexander Hrisanide and Roderik de Man.
After nearly 5 years of litigation his asylum request is turned down in 2003. After many leading figures from the Dutch and international music scene have advocated his case, Tawfiq gets permission to complete his studies in Netherland. Among them are big names such as Herman Krebbers, Hagai Shaham and the concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Alexander Kerr, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Israel Menahem Breuer. He obtains his Master’s degree as a violinist in June 2008 and in 2011 he also completes the composition course with the highest possible rating. His application for residence has run from 1998 to 2013. Since 2014 Tawfiq can call himself a Dutch citizen.