Kareem Roustom () is a Syrian-American composer,
music director, and university teacher, noted mainly for his compositions of
contemporary classical music, film scores and his collaboration with pop music artists. Among other musical ensembles, his compositions have been performed by the
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...
, the
Boston Symphony Orchestra, the
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
and at festivals in the U.S., the Middle East and in Europe.
Biography
Roustom was born in Damascus to an American mother and a Syrian father and moved with his family to the U.S. as a teenager. He first attended the
Northeastern University program in electrical engineering in 1989 and later earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music Business and Music Performance from the
University of Massachusetts at Lowell
The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of Massachusetts public ...
in 1993. From 2004 to 2006, Roustom continued with an M.A. in
Ethnomusicology and
Composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
*Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
*Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
at
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
. His thesis dealt with
oud
, image=File:oud2.jpg
, image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921
, background=
, classification=
* String instruments
*Necked bowl lutes
, hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6
, hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum
, ...
improvisations of notable Egyptian composer and musician
Riad Al Sunbati
Riad Mohamed El Sunbati ( arz, رياض محمد السنباطي), also written as Riad Sonbati or Riadh Sonbati (30 November 1906 – 10 September 1981) was a 20th-century Egyptian composer and musician who was considered an icon of Egyptian Mu ...
.
Since September 2017, Roustom is Professor of the Practice at the music department of Tufts University, School of Arts and Sciences, where he teaches
orchestration,
music notation
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
,
Music of the Middle East
The various nations of the region include the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East, the Iranian traditions of Persia, the Jewish music of Israel and the diaspora, Armenian music, Kurdish music, Azeri Music, the varied traditions of Cypr ...
and composition for film. He is also director of the university's
Arabic Music
Arabic music or Arab music ( ar, الموسيقى العربية, al-mūsīqā al-ʿArabīyyah) is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also man ...
Ensemble.
Artistic career
Roustom started playing guitar and the Arabic oud before becoming a composer of contemporary classical music. His compositions have been crossing
musical genres
This is a list of music genres and styles. Music can be described in terms of many music genre, genres and styles. Classifications are often arbitrary, and may be disputed and closely related forms often overlap. Larger genres and styles comprise ...
: Among others, his music has been commissioned by conductor
Daniel Barenboim and the
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the
Kronos Quartet
The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...
, and the British
choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh
Shobana Jeyasingh (born 26 March 1957 in Chennai) is a British choreographer and founder of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance.
Shobana Jeyasingh has been creating dance works for 30 years. Born in Chennai, India, she currently lives and works in London ...
. Further, he has written
musical arrangements
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
for pop musicians
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is n ...
and
Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...
, as well as
film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...
s for movies.
His music has been performed at festivals and concert venues, including the
BBC Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
, the
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...
, the
Lucerne Festival
Lucerne Festival is one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music and presents a series of classical music festivals based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Founded in 1938 by Ernest Ansermet and Walter Schulthess, it curren ...
, the
Carnegie Hall, the
Pierre Boulez Hall and the
Teatro Colon
Teatro may refer to:
* Theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific p ...
.
Roustom's music has been characterized as "rooted in two worlds", with references to both Western and Middle Eastern literary and musical traditions. His
clarinet concerto
A clarinet concerto is a concerto for clarinet; that is, a musical composition for solo clarinet together with a large ensemble (such as an orchestra or concert band). Albert Rice has identified a work by Giuseppe Antonio Paganelli as possibly th ...
''Adrift on the Wine-dark Sea'' was composed in 2017 for fellow Syrian-American musician
Kinan Azmeh
Kinan Azmeh ( ar, كنان العظمة, Kinān Azme, born June 10, 1976, in Damascus), is a Syrian clarinet player and composer of contemporary music. Performing with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Bavari ...
and the Deutsches Symphony Orchestra. In composing this work, Roustom was inspired both by
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
’s
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...
and by the fate of Syrian refugee
Doaa Al-Zamel, as "both embark on a perilous sea journey in an attempt to reach home, or a place of refuge."
''Hurry to the Light'', his 2009 composition for string orchestra and vocal ensemble was also inspired by the Odyssey and premiered by
A Far Cry
A Far Cry is a Boston-based chamber orchestra. The orchestra is self-conducted and consists of 18 musicians called "The Criers". It was founded in 2007 by a group of 17 musicians in Boston. The orchestra rehearses in Jamaica Plain and has been ...
chamber orchestra and Lorelei Ensemble in Boston.
His Violin Concerto No. 1 is an
homage to
Mozart’s historical interest in Arabic and
Turkish music
The music of Turkey includes mainly Turkic and Byzantine elements as well as partial influences ranging from Ottoman music, Middle Eastern music and Music of Southeastern Europe, as well as references to more modern European and American popula ...
. It had its world
premiere in 2019, with Michael Barenboim on solo violin and the
Barenboim-Said Academy's Boulez Ensemble, conducted by
Lahav Shani
Lahav Shani ( he, להב שני; born 7 January 1989, Tel Aviv) is an Israeli conductor and pianist.
Biography
Shani is the son of Michael Shani, a choral conductor. He began piano lessons at age 6 with Hannah Shalgi. He continued his piano st ...
in Berlin.
In July 2022, British choreographer
Shobana Jeyasingh
Shobana Jeyasingh (born 26 March 1957 in Chennai) is a British choreographer and founder of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance.
Shobana Jeyasingh has been creating dance works for 30 years. Born in Chennai, India, she currently lives and works in London ...
presented her work ''Clorinda Agonistes - Clorinda the Warrior'', a
hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
opera with dance and video projections, at
Sadler's Wells Theatre in London and other venues. In the first act, this work follows
Claudio Monteverdi's 1624 operatic
cantata, ''Il combattimento di Clorinda e Tancredi'', whose story is based on
Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' ( Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...
's poem ''Jerusalem Liberated'' and set in times of the
crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...
in medieval
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. To this historical piece, Jeyasingh added Roustom's contemporary music in a second act, using Monteverdi's
baroque instrumental textures and rhythms as "points of departure." Both compositions were played live by a string quartet, with tenor
Ed Lyon singing the leading parts. Further musical elements chosen by Roustom were the Middle Eastern social dance
dabke
''Dabke'' ( ar, دبكة also spelled ''dabka'', ''dubki'', ''dabkeh'', plural ''dabkaat'') is a Levantine Arab folk dance. Dabke combines circle dance and line dancing and is widely performed at weddings and other joyous occasions. The line f ...
and the recorded voice of Syrian
mezzo-soprano Dima Orsho
Dima Orsho (; b. 1975, Damascus, Syria) is a Syrian soprano singer and composer. She studied first at the Damascus Higher Institute for Music, then at the Boston Conservatory. Since 2003, she has been a member of the Syrian Hewar ensemble, alo ...
singing in Arabic."
Selected works
Compositions
*Four Dances from ''Clorinda Agonistes'' for string quartet, (2021)
*''Hurry to the Light'' for string orchestra and vocal ensemble (2019)
* ''Violin Concerto No. 1'' for violin & chamber orchestra, (2019)
* ''String Quartet No. 1: Shades of Night'', (2018)
* ''Clarinet concerto'' ''Adrift on the Wine-dark Sea,'' (2017)
* ''Tesserae'' for brass quintet, (2015)
* ''A Voice Exclaiming'' for triple string quartet, (2013)
* ''Traces'' for clarinet, piano and string quartet, (2013 rev. 2018)
* ''Resonances'' for Arabic violin, solo cello, hand percussion and string quartet, (2011)
* ''Abu Jmeel's Daughter'' for narrator, flute, clarinet, violin, viola and cello, (2011)
* ''Buhur'' for clarinet, violin, viola and cello, (2008)
*classical Arabic Music compositions for oud, percussion and mixed ensemble, (2005/2008)
Publication
*
Movie soundtracks
Roustom has composed music for several movies, among others ''Shadow Glories'' (Ziad H. Hamzeh, 2001), ''
Encounter Point'' (
Ronit Avni,
Julia Bacha
Julia Bacha (born 1980) is a Brazilian documentary filmmaker. She has filmed under-documented stories from the Middle East including issues related to Palestine. Her 2021 film, ''Boycott'', explores anti-boycott legislation and related freedom of ...
, 2006), ''
Amreeka
''Amreeka'' is a 2009, independent film written and directed by first-time director Cherien Dabis. It stars Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass, Alia Shawkat, Yussuf Abu-Warda, Joseph Ziegler, and Miriam Smith.
''Amreeka'' documents the ...
'' (
Cherien Dabis
Cherien Dabis (born 1976) ( ar, شيرين دعيبس) is an American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She was named one of ''Variety'' magazine's ''10 Directors to Watch'' in 2009, and in 2022 was nominated for the Outstanding Dir ...
, 2009), ''
Budrus
Budrus ( ar, بٌدرُس) is a Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, located 31 kilometers northwest of Ramallah in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the village ha ...
'' (Julia Bacha, 2010), ''
The Iran Job'' (
Till Schauder
Till Schauder (born 1971), is a German-born American filmmaker, film director, screenplay writer, film producer, actor and film instructor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife and co-producer, Sara Nodjoumi.
Early life
Schauder was bor ...
, 2012) ''May in the Summer'' (Cherien Dabis, 2013) and ''
Speed Sisters
''Speed Sisters'' is a 2015 documentary film by Amber Fares that follows the all-female Palestinian racing team the Speed Sisters and explores the social issues surrounding their career. It was pitched at the 2011 MeetMarket part of Sheffield Do ...
'' (
Amber Fares, 2015).
Selected awards
*
ASCAP/Alice Parker Award for
Coro Allegro's premiere of Roustom's
oratorio
An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...
''The Son of Man'', 2012
*
Emmy Award nominee Music & Sound (News & Documentary), 2010
* Sundance Institute Film Composers Lab Fellowship, 2010
* Composers Assistance Program Award from the
American Music Center
New Music USA is a new music organization formed by the merging of the American Music Center with Meet The Composer on November 8, 2011. The new organization retains the granting programs of the two former organizations as well as two media progr ...
, 2010
* Best Musical Score Award, Bend International Film Festival, 2006
* Subito Grant,
American Composers Forum, 2002 - 2000
* Pete Carpenter Fellowship,
BMI Foundation, Inc. 1997
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Official websiteDescription and sound files of Roustom's Violin concerto No. 1Full musical score for Roustom's ''A Voice Exclaiming'', commissioned for the Kronos Quartet
Program notes and sound files for ''A Voice Exclaiming''
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roustom, Kareem
Living people
Syrian musicians
Syrian composers
People from Damascus
Syrian contemporary artists
American composers
Tufts University faculty
Year of birth missing (living people)