Since 1974, Marcel Khalife has been composing music for dance which gave rise to a new genre of dance, the popular Near Eastern ballet Caracalla, Sarab Ensemble, Rimah, and Popular Art Ensemble | He also scored music for fiction film The Half meter Incident 1981 and The Box of the World 2003 by Ousama Mohammad |
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Marcel Khalife was born on June 10, 1950 in Amchit, Lebanon | In 1972, Marcel Khalife created a musical group in his native village, Amchit, with the goal of reviving its musical heritage and the Arabic chorale |
During that same period, he toured the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the United States giving solo performances on the oud.
From 1972 to 1975, Marcel Khalife taught at the Beirut National Conservatory of Music, public Universities and other local private music institutions | His published music has also been used in Hollywood produced films like East West 2006 and Rendition 2007 and also used in independently produced films like Driving to ZigZigland 2006 by Nicole Ballivian and Me, the Other 2006 by Mohsen Melliti |
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In his association with great contemporary Arab poets, particularly Palestinian poet par excellence, Mahmoud Darwish, he seeks to renew the character of the Arabic song, to break its stereotypes, and to advance the culture of the society that surrounds it | He published Al Samaa, a collection of compositions for various traditional Arab musical instruments 1981 , a six part methodology for the study of the oud 1982 , and Arabic Music-Theory and Practice French Edition, 1984 , Jadal oud Duo 1996 , OUD 1997 , Andalusian Suite for oud and Orchestra 2002 |
One of his recent works, Sharq, a choral symphonic composition was performed by the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Piacenza Choir.
19Cultural and Artstic recognition Award of the Tunisia Ministry of Culture- 2012 The Intellectual Merit and Achievement Medal — Fez, Morocco 2008 Charles Cros Award World Music category — Paris, France 2008 World Lebanese Cultural Union Medal- Beirut, Lebanon 2008 Cultural Movement Award- Antelias, Lebanon 2008 Freemuse Ambassador- Copenhagen, Denmark 2007 UNESCO Artist For Peace- Paris, France 2005 The Lebanese Cedar Medal- Presidential Award, Lebanon 2005 The National Palestine Medal- Palestine, 2001 Algerian Ministry of Youth Award- Algiers, Algeria 1984 South Lebanon Cultural Council- Lebanon 1984 Arab American University Graduates- USA 1982 Arab American Community Center for Social and Economic Services ACCESS Dearborn, USA 1982 Lebanese Ministry of Tourism- Beirut, Lebanon 1981 The Jerusalem Medal- Beirut, Lebanon 1981 The Cultural Achievement Award- Tunis, Tunisia 1980 The American Folkloric Festival Award- USA 1975 The Arab Music Foundation Award- Tunis, Tunisia 1974 On his journey, Marcel Khalife invents and creates original music, a novel world of sounds, freed of all pre-established rules | He studied the oud the Arabic lute at the Beirut National Conservatory of Music and graduated in 1971, and, ever since, has been injecting a new life into the oud |
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In June 2005 Marcel Khalife was named UNESCO Artist for Peace for his artistic achievement and humanitarian contributions |
The Conservatory has since established in his name an annual music competition under the title of The Marcel Khalife National Music Competition grants young gifted musicians financial support for their continued music education.