Simon Shaheen dazzles his listeners as he deftly leaps
from traditional Arabic sounds to jazz and Western classical styles.
His soaring technique, melodic ingenuity, and unparalleled grace have
earned him international acclaim as a virtuoso on the 'oud and
violin.
Shaheen is one of the most significant Arab musicians, performers, and
composers of his generation. His work incorporates and reflects a legacy
of Arabic music, while it forges ahead to new frontiers, embracing many
different styles in the process. This unique contribution to the world
of arts was recognized in 1994 when Shaheen was honored with the prestigious
National Heritage Award at the White House.
In the 1990s he released four albums of his own: Saltanah (Water
Lily Acoustics), Turath (CMP), Taqasim (Lyrichord),
and Simon Shaheen: The Music of Mohamed Abdel Wahab (Axiom),
while also contributing cuts to producer Bill Laswell's fusion collective, Hallucination
Engine (Island). He has contributed selections to soundtracks
for The Sheltering Sky and Malcolm X , among others,
and has composed the entire soundtrack for the United Nations-sponsored
documentary, For Everyone Everywhere. Broadcast globally in
December 1998, this film celebrated the 50 th anniversary of the United
Nations Human Rights Charter.
But perhaps his greatest success has come with Blue Flame (ARK21,
2001), where he leads his group, Qantara, on a labyrinthian journey through
the world of fusion music to discover the heart of the Middle East. The
album has been nominated for eleven Grammy Awards, and the band's performances
have been called "glorious."
A Palestinian, born in the village of Tarshiha in the Galilee, Shaheen's
childhood was steeped in music. His father, Hikmat Shaheen, was a professor
of music and a master 'oud player. "Learning to play on the 'oud from
my father was the most powerful influence in my musical life," Shaheen
recalls. He began playing on the 'oud at the age of five, and a year
later studying violin at the Conservatory for Western Classical Music
in Jerusalem. "When I held and played these instruments, they felt like
an extension of my arms."
After graduating from the Academy of Music in Jerusalem in 1978, Shaheen
was appointed its instructor of Arab music, performance, and theory.
Two years later he moved to New York City to complete his graduate studies
in performance at the Manhattan School of Music, and later in performance
and music education at Columbia University.
In 1982, Shaheen formed the Near Eastern Music Ensemble in
New York, establishing a group that would perform the
highest standard of traditional Arab music. This time also marked the
beginning of Shaheen's workshops and lecture/demonstrations in schools,
colleges, and universities to educate the younger generation. As a champion
and guardian of Arab music, Shaheen still devotes almost fifty percent
of his time to working with schools and universities, including Julliard,
Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Harvard, Yale, University of California in
San Diego, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and many others.
His concert credits are a veritable compendium of the world's greatest
venues: Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Cairo's Opera House, Theatre de
la Ville in Beirut, and Belgium's Le Palais des Arts. In May of 2004,
Shaheen appeared at Quincy Jones' "We Are The Future," fundraising concert
in Rome in front of a half million strong crowd.
As a composer, Shaheen has received grants from the National Endowment
for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, Meet the Composer,
the Jerome Foundation, Continental Harmony, and Yellow Springs Institute.
In addition to his recorded work, his theatrical repertoire includes Majnun
Layla, (performances included the Kennedy Center in Washington DC,
and The Museum of Natural History in New York), The Book and the
Stranger (from Kalilah Wa-Dimanah), Possible City, and Collateral Damage
with actress Vanessa Redgrave. He has also written the music for the
documentary of the British Museum's Egyptian collection, which has toured
U.S. museums.
Since 1994, Shaheen has produced the Annual Arab Festival of Arts, called "Mahrajan
al-Fan." Held in New York, the festival showcases the work of the finest
Arab artists, while presenting the scope, depth and quality of Arab culture.
To continue this exposure to Arab music and culture, Shaheen founded
the Annual Arabic Music Retreat in 1997. Held each summer at Mount Holyoke
College, this weeklong intensive program of Arabic music studies draws
participants from the U.S. and abroad.
For the past six years, though, Shaheen has focused much of his energies
on Qantara . The band, whose name means arch in Arabic,
brings to life Shaheen's vision for the unbridled fusion of Arab, jazz,
Western classical, and Latin American music, a perfect alchemy for music
to transcend the boundaries of genre and geography.
"I want to create a world music exceptionally satisfying to the ear
and for the soul," says Shaheen, "This is why I selected members for
Qantara who are all virtuosos in their own musical forms, and whose expertise
and knowledge can raise the music and the group's performance to spectacular
levels."
Qantara made their first live recording debut on Mondo Melodia/ARK21's "Historic
Live Recording of the Two Tenors & Qantara ," featuring
tenors Wadi al-Safi and Sabah Fahkri. The disc featured two instrumental
cuts by Shaheen and Qantara, which, only begins to show the band's range
and capabilities ."
Shaheen and Qantara made their full recording debut with Blue
Flame, . Compositions of "Al-Qantara" and "Dance
Mediterranea" sparkle like jewels, while the opening track, Blue
Flame, is a bravura exhibition of Shaheen's -- and the band's -- virtuosity.
The Los Angeles Times proclaimed the record "stunning," National
Public Radio called it "a staggering tour-de-force of technique and
passion," CMJ called it "a new benchmark in Arab-Western
fusion," and the Washington Post termed it "eminently cosmopolitan."
The band has toured during 2003 and 2004, playing concerts and festivals
like WOMAD USA, WOMAD Sicily, the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival,
Montreal Jazz Festival. Traveling throughout Europe and the Middle East,
Qantara's appearances have included: Beiteddine Festival in Lebanon;
Les Mediterranean in France; New York's Central Park Summer Stage; Stern
Grove International Festival in San Francisco; Chicago World Music Festival;
Royce Hall in Los Angeles; University Musical Society in Ann Arbor; Walker
Arts Center in Minneapolis; International Souk Ukaz at the historic citadel
in Amman, Jordan; and Yabous Festival in the historical Tombs of Kings
in East Jerusalem amongst others . In Palestine, Shaheen conducts an
annual weeklong music workshop designed for gifted children.
In addition to performing with his two bands, Qantara and the Near Eastern
Music Ensemble, Shaheen tours as a solo artist internationally and as
a lecturer throughout the academic world promoting awareness to Arab
music through numerous lecture and workshop presentations.
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