Malek Jandali

Malek Jandali مالك جندلي
Background information
Birth name	Malek Jandali
Born	(1972-12-25) December 25, 1972 Waldbröl, West Germany
Origin	Homs, Syria
Genres	Classical Jazz Classical Arabic Film music
Occupations	Composer, pianist
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1981–present
Labels	Soul b Music
Website	www.malekjandali.com
Notable instruments
Steinway & Sons

Malek Jandali (Arabic: مالك جندلي‎, mālik jandalī) (born 1972) is a Syrian composer and pianist. He has performed music based on the Hurrian songs, which are inscribed on clay tablets discovered in Ugarit, Syria, and are thought to be the oldest notated music in the world.^[1]

Life

Malek Jandali was born in Germany and raised in Homs, Syria. He began his musical career as a pianist. He studied at the Arab Institute of Music in Damascus with Vladimir Zaritsky and Victor Bunin of the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory.^[2][3] Jandali won first place in the Syrian National Young Artists Competition in 1988, and in 1995 received a scholarship to attend North Carolina School of the Arts under Eric Larsen.^[3] He graduated from Queens University, where he studied under Paul Nitsch and received the Outstanding Musical Performer Award of the school.^[3] He studied composition and orchestration with Eddie Horst, Harry Bulow, Lawrence Dillon and Richard Prior.^[3] In 2004 he received his master's degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.^[2]

Music

As performer

Jandali has performed as a soloist in London, Cairo, Damascus, Istanbul, Paris and Atlanta, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.^[4] and in the Stude Hall of the Shepherd School of Music^[1] at Rice University in Houston.^{[citation needed]} He has performed with orchestras including the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ludwig Symphony Orchestra and the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra at Damascus Opera House.^{[citation needed]}

As composer

Jandali has composed works ranging from solo instrumental pieces to large ensemble and orchestral works.^[5] He has a special interest in Arab music and combines the maqamat or modes with western harmony in his piano and orchestral compositions.^[3]

He released his first album of compositions for piano and orchestra, Echoes from Ugarit, in June 2009. The album was briefly in the international music charts of the United Arab Emirates.^[6] The title track is based on a hymn to Nikkal, one of the Hurrian songs inscribed on cuneiform clay tablets discovered in Ugarit, Syria, and thought to date from 1400 BC and thus to be the oldest notated music in the world.^[6]

In April 2011 Jandali wrote Watani Ana (I am my Homeland). In June his scheduled appearance at the annual convention of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) was cancelled, reportedly because he planned to perform Watani Ana.^[7] The initial statement issued by the ADC did not make clear the reason for the cancellation,^[8] and attracted criticism from other organisations including the Arab-American Institute.^[7] The ADC issued a further statement in April 2012, in which it said that it had reached "an amicable resolution" with Jandali.^[9]

In July 2011 Jandali performed Watani Ana at a protest in Lafayette Park.^[10] Shortly afterwards, his parents, Mamoun Jandali and Linah Droubi, were severely beaten and their home in Homs was ransacked. Jandali blamed Syrian security forces for the attack, and told reporters that as his mother was beaten, she was told "we're going to teach you how to raise your son".^[11] Photographs published on Facebook showed evidence that the couple had been brutally beaten.^[12] In September two armed attackers broke into the house and again ransacked it; Jandali's parents were not there as they had fled Syria after the previous attack.^[12]

In early 2012 Jandali released his album Emessa (Homs), which he dedicated to "the Syrian people and their noble quest for freedom - especially the people of Homs".^[13] The album includes his Freedom Qashoush Symphony, named for Ibrahim Qashoush, who wrote a song popular with Syrian protesters and who was killed and had his vocal cords torn out.^[13]

Reception

Jandali received prizes including the 1997 Outstanding Musical Performer Award from Queens University.^{[citation needed]}

• National Young Artists Competition - First Prize - Syria, 1988
• The Stegner Foundation for the Arts Fellowship
• Queens University - Outstanding Musical Performer - USA, 1997
• The 2011 Freedom of Expression Award - CAIR Los Angeles, USA, 2011^[14]
• Culture and Arts Achievement Award, Network of Arab American Professionals of New York, 2012

Discography

Albums

• Echoes from Ugarit, 2009
• Emessa (Homs), 2012.

EPs and singles

• Watani Ana (I am my Homeland), 2011
• Syria – Anthem of the Free, 2013
• Ya Allah (Oh God), 2013^{[citation needed]}

References

•  This article incorporates text from this source, which is licensed under CC-BY 2.0.

External links

• Interview with Malek Jandali about Echoes from Ugarit, BBC World Service Radio