Qais Essar | |
|---|---|
 Essar in 2000 | |
| Background information | |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments | Rabab, santur |
| Formerly of | Qosmonauts |
Qais Essar is an Afghan-American musician based in Phoenix, Arizona. A rabab player and songwriter, he is most noted for the song "The Crown Sleeps", from the 2017 animated film The Breadwinner, which won the Best Original Song prize at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards in 2018. He co-wrote the song with Joshua Hill, a bandmate in the now-defunct group Qosmonauts. Essar often features instruments more familiar to Western music to complement the more traditional sound of the rabab and the santur in his compositions.
