One of the remarkable women in the world of music today, is the Lebanese composer and opera singer Hiba Al Kawas: Remarkable for talent, creativity, artistic and intellectual personality

Biography

The Grand Dame of Arabic Opera Singing and Composing

Hiba Al Kawas

Inspiring Opera Singer, Moving Soprano, Talented Composer, Brilliant Educator, Pioneering Artist, Compassionate person, and Gentle Soul, all words used to describe world renowned Opera Singer and Composer Hiba Al Kawas

...

One of the remarkable women in the world of music today, is the Lebanese composer and opera singer Hiba Al Kawas: Remarkable for talent, creativity, artistic and intellectual personality.

Hiba embarked on her Musical journey very early. She first played the piano at the tender age of two and a half and composed her first piece at the age of four. She Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Clinical Psychology, a diploma in Piano studies, and two Cum Laude Master's Degrees one in opera singing under the guidance of Toufic Kerbage, and the other in composition and musicology under the supervision of Walid Gholmieh. Her early studies gave a glimpse into her true potential, her tremendous creative and artistic talent. She was awarded a special scholarship from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Italy, where she pursued advanced studies in opera singing with Carlo Bergonzi and composition with Franco Donatoni. Since, she has pursued a successful and brilliant musical career.

Hiba Al Kawas composes for symphony, chamber and string orchestra; she also composes for piano and voice and various ensembles. Traditional Arabic instruments were included in her compositions. She incorporates Oriental-Arabic music elements within the overall composition techniques, bridging cultural borders of the continents of music, the Lyrical East and the Symphonic West.

Twenty of her early works were recorded with the Dniepropetrovsk Symphony Orchestra-Ukraine under the direction of Viascheslav Blenov. Ten more recent works were recorded with the Symphony Orchestra Krakow. She has recently recorded numerous works with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and the National Choir of Kiev conducted by Vladimir Sirenko.

In 2000 she was named Representative of Contemporary Composers of the year by the Krakow Contemporary Composition Festival, when the Krakow Chamber Orchestra played her Aspiration No.1. At another date her Moments in Krakow was given its world premiere by the Krakow Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Wojciech Czepiel. This work reached world fame when it was performed by The Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra, The Cairo Symphony Orchestra and The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. Her orchestral work, Pleusis 1, which was premiered in 2000 by the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra, has also been played by the London Sinfonia, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Krakow Symphony Orchestra, and Bolshoi State Theatre Symphony Orchestra.

During the Gaudeamus Music Week, the Neuwe Ensemble commissioned and performed her composition Sada Al Akwan, for the Opening of the “Muziekgebau” Amsterdam, in 2005.

The opening ceremony of Tyre Festival in Lebanon and the Al-Medina Festival in Tunis were affected by her performance. In 2006 for the 2nd anniversary of the Dubai International Financial Centre, Hiba Al Kawas performed duets along with the outstanding tenor José Carreras, she also performed songs and intermezzos of her own composition, accompanied by the London Sinfonia Orchestra conducted by David Giménez-Carreras and Brad Cohen.

She dedicated her song O Liban soit sauvé! (on a poem by Nada El Hage) to the memory of Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, and to the President Jacques Chirac who attended her concert at the IMA in Paris 2007.

Her composition, Rou'ia Fi Maa’, “A Vision in Water”, received its premiere at the Opéra Bastille in Paris 2007. This piece was commissioned by the Festival d'Automne for Contemporary Music and performed by the Neuwe Ensemble of Amsterdam. The work comprises five movements of which three movements include bits of vocal intrusions based on Arabic poems by Nada El Hage.

In 2008 a short musical film directed by Camille Mallat: Noor - Lady Light was produced based on her song Asra bi-Qalbi, on a poem by Abdel Aziz Khoja. The screening took place in Beirut in 2008 and at the London International Documentary Film Festival in 2009.

Born in Saida, Lebanon, 17 July 1972, Hiba Al Kawas performed her first concert at the age of six. Thereafter the stream of concerts never stopped; from in Lebanon, to Syria, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Tunis, Bahrain, Amman, London, Cairo, Paris, Bologna, Sienna, Stuttgart, Krakow, Kiev, Lisbon, Estoril, and Amsterdam.

The core heart of her career is the establishing of the Arabic Opera from Lebanon to the Arab World and beyond. Her discipline advocates a highly scientific degree, not to be confused with singing opera in Arabic, as she created a new concept of composition for vocal music, since Arabic language embodies other difficulties in style and performance than the habitual Bel Canto and Lieder tradition. She also developed and adapted operatic vocal technique which allows the singer to find the proper voice placement to preserve the Arabic pronunciation and singing tradition.

She frequently performs her own vocal compositions in concerts. Creating the Arabic Opera remains her main dream.

Selected poems from the Arabic repertoire that reflect and intersect with her new musical stream find themselves projected in musical ethereal reality. She often crosses from the Sufi to the Contemporary Poetry, and has worked on Al Hallaj, Ibn Arabi, Ibn El Farid, Al Mutanabbi, Badr Shaker Al-Sayyab, Adonis, Hoda Naamani, Ounsi El Hage, Talal Haidar, Mahmoud Darweesh, Hamza Abboud, Abdel Aziz Khoja, Zahi Wehbi, Raghida Mahfouz and Nada El Hage.

The Bolshoi Theatre Symphony Orchestra, joined by the soloist Jose Maria Gallardo Del Rey on guitar performed her new compositions inspired by Andalusian music for “The closing concert of The 5th Abu Dhabi Music and Art Festival” in 2008.

In Jordan 2009, she performed with the Amman Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fuad Fakhoury a collection of her vocal repertoire. At the Cairo Opera House, her instrumental ouverture “Moments in Krakow” was played by The Cairo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marcello Mottadelli.

Her latest concerts include a performance at the Cadogan Hall and the Royal Society of Arts in London.

In May 2009 her concert at the theatre of “Le Casino du Liban” was a great and remarkable success that assured Hiba Al Kawas a durable journey with her concept of Arabic Opera. This come back finely touched the minds and hearts of the Lebanese listener. Al Kawas was accompanied with the International Guitarist Jose Maria Gallardo Del Rey and the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the Viennese Karl Sollak.

A major contribution to the National Day of Bahrain was Al Kawas Closure of the festivities in 2009, she composed for the occasion a complete Operatic scene, a work directed by the choreographer Walid Aouni where both Orchestra Roma Sinfonietta and Cairo Opera House Choir participated.

As a film score composer she also improvised for the film “As the Poet Said”, a movie about the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darweesh by Nasri Hajjaj. The film was released beginning of 2010.

The concert for: “Voices of Peace” organized by UNESCO and the Qatar Foundation in May 2010, her appearance was remarkable; she participated for both happenings, one in Doha the other in Paris at the Unesco Theatre, accompanied by Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Amin Kouider.

She was also solely performed to honor Sultan Qabous of Oman hosted by His Majesty the King of Bahrain. Accompanied by the International Guitarist Jose Maria Gallardo Del Rey and the Orchestra Roma Sinfonietta conducted by Karl Sollak on the 20th of June 2010. Later in the same month Al Kawas Opened Beit Eddine Festival on its 25th Anniversary, where she presented world premiered songs and compositions for an audience of 7000 people. She was accompanied by the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walid Gholmieh.

The opening of the New Lebanese Embassy in Qatar 2010, honoured her presence and music, in the presence of HRH the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and the Lebanese

President H.E. Michael Sulaiman upon the invitation and request of H.E. Mr. Hassan Saad the Lebanese Ambassador there.

On November 2010, Mrs. Al Kawas performed the Concert of WISE 2010 under the High Patronage and presence of Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, accompanied by The Qatar Phiharmonic and under the baton of conductor Andreas Weiser.

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and in the presence of its Patron Princess Maxima wife of the Crown Prince of Netherlands, played Hiba Al Kawas’s composition "Moments in Krakow" on June 2011 in a world famous program of Al Kawas, Ravel, and Korsakov at the Royal Concertgebouw hall conducted by Adrean Prabava.

Hiba Al Kawas teaming up with poet Nada El-Hage have composed and performed in a series of music and poetry recitals in Lebanon and abroad.

Al Kawas is currently a member of the board at the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music and a professor of Opera and Composition there. She is also a member of the committee of The Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra as well as a member of the UNESCO Higher National Committee of Music. She is also a member of the Intellectual Property Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce. In 2005, she gave several lectures at the University of Amsterdam. She is the co-author of Methods for Elementary and Intermediate Music Stages in Lebanon (1997/1998) and the author of Methods for Teacher’s Training schools in Lebanon (2000).

She received several decorations and awards in various countries. His Majesty Sultān Qaboos of Oman in 2007 awarded her The Golden Order of Sultān Qaboos for Culture, Science and Arts. In July 2003, a Stamp holding her name and picture was published in Lebanon. Other prizes include: The Lebanese Creativity Prize (2003). The Seal of Beirut (2001). The Seal of the American University of Beirut Alumni (1998). The Seal of the Lebanese American University Alumni of Abu Dhabi (1993).

Among her compositions are works for symphony orchestra such as: Pleusis No.1 in 3 movements, (2000), Ilaik (Overture) (1995), Moments In Krakow (Overture) (2002), Baina Nahrain, (2004) , and In the Path of Light (Tone Poem) (2008), Beiteddine (Overture) (2010). Another famous work is for string orchestra: Aspiration No.1, (1999).

Her chamber works include an octet: Wajd, (1994), a trio: Those days, (1995), and duets for oud and piano: Itab, (1997). Her compositions for piano include: Love Hurts, (1990), Faragh, (1991) and Rhapsody for Piano, (2005). She has several arias for soprano and orchestra in Arabic, of which some include a choir part.

Hiba Al-Kawas’s rich repertoire, shapes the backbone of her intrinsic concept of Arabic Opera. Her mastery of melody and harmony, combined with brilliant orchestration, demonstrate how Arabic language and melody enrich the world repertoire of Bel canto and beyond.