- Title: SYRIA: Marcel Khalife dedicates a concert in Damascus to late Palestinian poet
- Date: 30th December 2008
- Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (RECENT - DECEMBER 17, 2008) (REUTERS) KHALIFE ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHER (SOUNDBITE - AUDIO AS INCOMING) (Arabic) LEBANESE COMPOSER AND SINGER, MARCEL KHALIFE, SAYING: "I have sung many of Darwish's poems (late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish) but at the same time there was room for many prominent poets from the region. I imagine any poem I find and love, I would perform." DAMASCUS, SYRIA (DECEMBER 27, 2008 ) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN SINGER, SAMIH SHOUKEIR, SAYING: "Marcel [Khalife] and many other colleagues who are leaders in this field, have sparked a wave of change in Arabic music. This is a victory for meanings, which many art forms have abandoned, and they [these art forms] are supposed to be concerned with the problems people are facing and all the matters of their hearts during the difficult times the region is facing."
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- Story Text: Renowned Lebanese composer and singer Marcel Khalife dedicates a concert in Damascus to the late Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish.
At least 7,500 music lovers gathered in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Saturday (December 27) to attend a concert by Lebanese composer, singer and Oud [Near Eastern Lute] virtuoso, Marcel Khalife.
The concert is part of Khalife's ongoing tour across Syrian cities, having already performed in Homs, Latakia and Aleppo. The 58-year-old musician dedicated his performance to the late Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish.
In a news conference ahead of his performance, Khalife spoke about the influence of poetry on his compositions.
"I have sung many of Darwish's poems but at the same time there was room for many prominent poets from the region. I imagine any poem I find and love, I would perform," Khalife said.
He was joined by an ensemble of Arab and foreign musicians, including the singer Umaima al-Khalil, his two sons Rami and Bashar and Syrian clarinettist, Kinan al-Azme.
His concert featured performances of some of Darwish's poems, rarely performed on stage.
Mahmoud Darwish, who is known to millions of Arabs as "Palestine's poet," died on August 9, 2008. During his lifetime, he was viewed as one of few Arab poets whose work had transcended cultures and borders. His poems struck a chord in France, where there is much interest in and enthusiasm for his work, with readings of his poetry held all over the country. Darwish had even featured in a film by the legendary Paris based film director, Jean Luc Godard.
Darwish, a Palestinian Israeli, returned from 26 years of exile when he arrived in the West Bank in 1996. Upon his return, Israeli authorities allowed Darwish to make a brief visit to his native village of Jdaideh, near the city of Acre, for the first time since 1970. The Palestinian village became part of Israel after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
Between 1960 to 1970, the Israeli authorities jailed Darwish several times and placed him under administrative detention for his activities in Arab nationalist groups.
He then left Israel and joined the PLO, moving from Lebanon to Tunis, then to Paris, and finally to Jordan.
His poems have been made into songs popularised throughout the Arab world. His fans say his work embodies Palestinian aspirations, and the pains of living in prisons and in exile. His friends call him the poet of the revolution.
Meanwhile, Marcel Khalife also dedicated his songs on Saturday to Gaza's citizens as Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip.
"Marcel [Khalife] and many other colleagues who are leaders in this field, have sparked a wave of change in Arabic music," said Syrian Singer, Samih Shoukeir.
"This is a victory for meanings, which many art forms have abandoned, and they [these art forms] are supposed to be concerned with the problems people are facing and all the matters of their hearts during the difficult times the region is facing," Shoukeir added.
Marcel Khalife was born in 1950 and graduated from the Beirut National Conservatory of Music in 1971 to begin his Oud playing career.
His background in music began at a young age. His first lessons in music were with a retired military man. He mastered playing the Oud and even stretched the instrument's boundaries beyond what it was then known to achieve. He taught at Beirut conservatory from 1970-75 and in 1976 established his own musical ensemble under the name, Al Mayadeen Ensemble.
Khalife has received several honours throughout his career, including a 2005 UNESCO Artist for Peace title. In 1999, he was granted the Palestine Award for Music of which he contributed the prize money to the National Conservatory of Music at Birzeit University in the Palestinian territories.
His compositions have been played by several orchestras, notably the Kiev Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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