Dr. Thomas Burkhalter is an ethnomusicologist, AV-artist, filmmaker and music journalist from Switzerland. He is the founder and director of Norient - Performing Music Research and the Norient Film Festival (NFF). He co-directed the documentary film "Contradict" (2020), and is the author of the book "Local Music Scenes and Globalization: Transnational Platforms in Beirut", and he co-edited books like "The Arab Avant Garde: Musical Innovation in the Middle East".