Rami Khalifé (born September 25, 1981)
is a
French-
Lebanese composer and pianist.
Early life and education
Khalifé was born in
Beirut
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, into a family of musicians. His father is musician
Marcel Khalifé and his mother is vocalist Yolla Khalifé. His brother is the percussionist Bachar Mar-Khalifé.
Khalifé lived in Beirut until the age of eight when his family moved to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
as part of a large wave of
Lebanese people emigrating to France during the
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.
The religious diversity of the ...
. He eventually got French citizenship.
In Paris, Khalifé attended the Conservatoire National de Région de Boulogne-Billancourt where he studied piano with Louis-Claude Thirion and Marie-Paule Siruguet, and later with Lebanese pianist
Abd El Rahman El Bacha. Khalifé was awarded first place on piano and a degree in music theory.
In 2000, Khalifé moved to New York City to study piano with Hungarian pianist
Gyorgy Sandor at the
Juilliard School of Music
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named afte ...
. He graduated in 2003.
Career
In Paris before college, Khalifé won piano competitions at
Radio France
Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster.
Stations
Radio France offers seven national networks:
*France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...
, at the UFAM Competition, and at the
Claude Kahn International Piano Competition. In 1994, he performed at the Gaveau Music Hall.
He toured the Middle East with the Boulogne-Billancourt Orchestra, where he performed the Rachmaninov piano concerto No. 4 and Ravel's piano concerto in G.
Khalifé has performed in the Middle East and the United States as a solo artist as well as with clarinetist
Kinan Azmeh, often playing classical works as well as improvised compositions.
Khalifé performed in Brazil with Brazilian cellist Fabio Presgrave.
While at Juilliard, Khalifé met pianist
Francesco Tristano. They performed several improvised concerts for piano-duo and began what would be a long-term creative collaboration. Khalifé also performed improvised concerts for two pianos at Juilliard with pianist Francesco Schlimé.
Khalifé has released multiple live and studio records as a solo artist. In 2002, Khalifé released his first record, a double record called ''Live in Beirut'', which was reinterpretations of traditional classical music pieces. In 2005, he released his second record, ''Scene from Hellek'', which consisted of original compositions.
In 2006, Khalifé performed at the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
's
Hill Auditorium
Hill Auditorium is the largest performance venue on the University of Michigan campus, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The auditorium was named in honor of Arthur Hill (1847–1909), who served as a regent of the university from 1901 to 1909. He beque ...
as part of the Arab World Music Summit.
In 2007, Khalifé released a record called ''Piano Concertos'' which was
Piano Concerto No. 5 by
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...
and Piano Concerto No. 1 by Lebanese-Russian composer
Abdalla El-Masri.
In 2013, Khalifé performed original music inspired by the
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...
called ''Requiem for Beirut'' at the
Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and the MDR Leipzig Radio Choir.
In 2015, he performed the work at an outdoor concert at
Martyrs' Square in Beirut.
In 2016, Khalifé performed his composition ''Stories'' for piano and orchestra with the
Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia is an American chamber orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal concert venue is the Perelman Theater of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, of which the orchestra is a founding r ...
.
In May 2017, he performed his work, ''Voyage with Marcel Khalifé'' at the
Philharmonie de Paris
The Philharmonie de Paris () () is a complex of concert halls in Paris, France. The buildings also house exhibition spaces and rehearsal rooms. The main buildings are all located in the Parc de la Villette at the northeastern edge of Paris in the ...
with his father and at the
Orchestre national d'Île-de-France
The Orchestre national d'Île-de-France is a French symphony orchestra with its administrative base in Alfortville.
The orchestra, made up of ninety-five permanent musicians, gives around a hundred concerts each season, thus offering Ile-de-France ...
, conducted by
Julien Leroy.
In 2018, Khalifé released his fifth solo record, an almost completely instrumental work called ''Lost''.
Aufgang
In 2005, Khalifé founded the classic electronic group Aufgang, initially as a modern experimental music piano duo with Francesco Schlimé aided by digitized music.
Aufgang then became a three person project with Khalifé, Francesco Tristano, and Aymeric Westrich, with a record deal with the French label InFiné. They broke out at the 2005 Sonar Festival in Barcelona.
Marcel, Rami and Bachar Khalifé
In 2011, Khalifé began a new project with his father and brother called "Marcel, Rami & Bachar Khalifé".
They debuted at the Beirut Music & Art Festival and was broadcast on MTV.
The group was made up of Marcel Khalifé on
oud with son Rami Khalifé on piano and son Bachar Khalifé on percussion – with Gilbert Yammine on
qanun.
In 2016, the group released a collaborative record called ''Andalusia of Love'', a mixture of traditional music inspired by the Palestinian writer
Mahmoud Darwish
Mahmoud Darwish (; 13 March 1941 – 9 August 2008) was a Palestinians, Palestinian poet and author who was regarded as Palestine's national poet.
In 1988 Darwish wrote the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, which was the formal declarat ...
and improvised compositions from Rami and Bachar.
They toured the United States under the sponsorship of
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) states that it is "the largest Arab American grassroots civil rights organization in the United States." According to its webpage, it is open to people of all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicitie ...
,
Town Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
in New York City.
Personal life
Khalifé lives in Paris with his wife, ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
Broadcast Journalist Mariam Saab
Discography
Solo records
* 2002: ''Live in Beirut'' (Nagam Records)
* 2005: ''Scene from Hellek'' (Nagam Records)
Aufgang
* "Ellenroutir (Remixes)" (InFiné)
* "Kyrie (Remixes)" (InFiné)
* "Barock Remixes" (InFiné)
* 2009: "Channel 7 Remixes" 12" single EP with 20th Floor Remix By Cubenx and You And Me Remix By John Talabot (InFiné)
Marcel, Rami and Bachar Khalifé
* 2016: ''Andalusia of Love''
Selected collaborations
* 2002: ''Música Do Campus: Música Brasileira Para Violoncelo E Piano'' (Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Norte/Petrobras) – piano
* 2002: ''Concerto Al Andalus / كونشرتو الأندلس'' by Marcel Khalifé (Nagam Records)
* 2004: ''Caress / مداعبة'' by Marcel Khalifé (Nagam Records)
* 2005: ''Ne Retiens Pas Tes Larmes / À Mon Amour...'' by Amel Bent
Amel Bent Bachir (; born 21 June 1985), better known by her stage name Amel Bent (), is a French pop singer who gained fame after reaching the semi-finals of season 2 of French TV singing competition ''Nouvelle Star''. She is best-selling artist ...
single (Jive/Epic) – piano
* 2006: ''The Green Armchair'' (Agoria)
* 2007: ''Not for Piano'' by Francesco Tristano (InFiné) – piano
* 2008: ''Damascus Festival Chamber Players''
* 2010: ''Oil Slick'' by Bachar Mar-Khalifé
* 2011: ''Aah'' by Yolla Khalifé
Filmography
* 2016: ''Aufgang: Summer'' (video short) – Composer
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khalifé, Rami
1981 births
Living people
Musicians from Beirut
Lebanese composers
Lebanese pianists
21st-century pianists