Siwan is a musical orchestral project, initiated and composed by the norwegian composer and musician Jon Balke,  and is developed in cooperation with the musicians in the performing group.

Siwan is a musical imagination inspired by the poetry of Al Andalus, sung in arabic,. The word Siwan or Sivan is connected to the number three, triangular or equilibrium in various existing or no longer spoken languages from the Mediterranean region.

Siwan points to plausible links between the three-religion culture of Al Andalus and important phases of European Culture like the Renaissance and Baroque. The music departs from similarities in musicianship in contemporary players from different traditions, like Baroque, Maghreb, Persian traditional and Jazz traditions, but is not academic or historical in itself.

The music is a new creation performed by a collective of creative and strongly individual players: Derya Turkan on Kemenche, Mona Boutchebak vocals,Pedram Khavarzamini percussion, Helge Norbakken Percussion, Jon Balke keyboards, Bjarte Eike violin and the Baroque soloists string group

Siwan is musically in constant motion. After the first version in 2008, a second edition: Siwan Jadid was formed with Kamylia Jubran on vocals  , followed by a sextet version in 2013 with Mouna Boutchebak. The group then established in a 13 piece format with 9 string players. The collaboration between musicians in the intersection of different musical experience, different genres and different musical bases, is what shapes  Siwan to be  a uniqe musical adventure, for both the performers and audience. The historic background and the level of communication between the musicians underline the basic theme of the project: coexistence, collaboration and tolerance, or "convivencia" as it was named in Al Andalus. Siwan  third edition "Hafla" was recorded winter 2019 and was released in autumn same year, with a release tour of november festivals in Europe. The album was nominated for the high hanging “Spellemann” prize in Norway. Siwan is truly a multicultural musical project, and has been highly praised in media all around the world .