Marcel Khalife

Marcel Khalife (Arabic: مارسيل خليفة‎; b. 1950, Amchit, Mount Lebanon) is a Lebanese composer, singer and oud (an Arabic lute) player, considered a Palestinian among the Palestinians, a Southerner among the South Lebanese and most commonly an Arab musician. From 1970 to 1975, he taught at the conservatory in Beirut. In 1976, he created Al Mayadeen Ensemble and became famous all over the world for songs like Ummi (My Mother), Rita w'al-Bundaqiya (Rita and the Rifle) and Jawaz al-Safr (Passport), based on Mahmoud Darwish's poetry.In 1999 he was granted the Palestine Award for Music. In turn, he contributed the financial portion of the award to the National Conservatory of Music at Birzeit University in Palestine. In 2005, Khalife was named UNESCO Artist for Peace. He lives in Paris, France.
One son, Bachar Khalife, is also an accomplished oud player and percussionist; the other, Rami Khalife , is a virtuoso pianist who graduated from the Juilliard School.WIKIPEDIA

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