Hiba Al Kawas

Hiba Al Kawas
The Grand Dame of Arabic Opera Singing and Composing.

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.

Born in Saida, Lebanon, in 1972 Hiba Al Kawas embarked on her musical journey quite early: She first played the piano at the age two and a half, composed her first piece at four and made her first concert appearance at the age of six.

Throughout her formative years, she consistently proved her unique artistic and intellectual talents: 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 another in composition and musicology (under the guidance of Walid Gholmieh). Based on these achievements 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 in composition with Franco Donatoni.

Al Kawas holds a doctoral degree in Music and preparing for her Ph.D. in composition from Cracow Academy of Music.

Musician between East and West If there is one idée fixe throughout her musical career it is exploring the potential of going beyond one specific musical tradition: Merging Western classical styles of composition and performance with their counterparts in the Middle East and beyond has been a mainstay of all her artistic endeavours. For several years now she has been focussing on the creation of the first “true Arabic Opera”.

Composer with a Purpose

From her early years onwards Hiba Al Kawas dedicated significant portions of her time and attention to composition. Her works span a wide range of styles and instrumentations, thus using her rare background in both the Western and Middle Eastern musical expressions: Traditional symphony and chamber orchestras feature repeatedly, as does the piano and several traditional Arabic instruments, bridging cultural boundaries between the Lyrical East and the Symphonic West.

Befitting for an artist with a firm grounding in the Arabic cultural tradition, Hiba Al Kawas regularly searches inspirations from the great poets and writers of the Arabic language, both historic and living. Her compositions are influenced by such diverse sources as Sufi writing, historic or mythological events involving Arab-speaking and Western cultures and - quite regularly for her shorter pieces and more song-like ballads – by contemporary Middle Eastern poetry.

In her strive to leave the confines of “classical composition” she also writes music for films, among them the music to a short film directed by Camille Mallat, “Noor - Lady Light” which was shown at a festival in Beirut in 2008 and at the London International Documentary Film Festival in 2009; and her score for “As the Poet Said”, a movie about the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, released in 2010.

Performing her Music

After her formative years, working with Carlo Bergonzi in Italy to improve her understanding and recreation of Western traditional vocal techniques certainly marked a turning point for Hiba Al Kawas as a singer. Being both a composer and vocalist, she realized the proper signing technique would be equally decisive as stylistic diversity. 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 in relation to the Arabic language necessities. She set out to adapt existing vocalization methods and soon was developing her own approach to finding the proper voice placement so Arabic pronunciation and singing traditions can be honoured even when roaming stylistically into Bel Canto and the Lieder tradition.

Her works have been performed by numerous conductors and orchestras who explore different musical idioms, and in many of those occasions Hiba Al Kawas also featured as a singer, lending her beautiful soprano to own works and those of others on the programme: the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the presence of Queen Maxima, playing her composition “Moments in Krakow” at the Royal Concertgebouw hall; the Krakow Symphony Orchestra; The City of London Sinfonia; Prague Symphony Orchestra; the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra; the Cairo Symphony Orchestra; Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra; the Amman Symphony Orchestra; The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, Bolshoi State Theatre Symphony Orchestra; and – last but not least - the Dutch Nieuwe Ensemble commissioned and performed her composition “Sada Al Akwan” for the opening of the Muziek-gebauw in Amsterdam. Her composition, Rou’ia Fi Maa’, “A Vision in Water”, received its premiere at the Opéra Bastille in Paris 2007.

Official Appreciation

Hiba AL Kawas was commissioned several times by head of states and leaders to contribute to their official and cultural events: A major contribution to the National Day of Bahrain was Al Kawas music and performance at the festivities in 2009, opened the International Conference of Tourism in 2013; was invited to perform at the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament, a music performance took place during the meeting of the culture committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of Union for the Mediterranean raising the voice of EMMA for Peace and its mission; In December 2014 Hiba Al Kawas revealed the new Airbus aircraft A350, opening a new chapter in the history of aviation from Toulouse. Al Kawas has been attended by royalties and authorities such as President Jacques Chirac, HRH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Lebanese President H.E. Michael Sulaiman, HM Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin `Rached Al Maktoum, H.E. Kofi Annan, late P.M. Rafic Hariri, King Hamad Al Khalifa, and many others.

The Academic

Hiba Al Kawas is a professor of composition as well as Opera at the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music. She headed the academic coordination of the Teachers’ Music Institute.

Professor at the Lebanese University between 1995 and 2000. Al Kawas is a visiting Professor for several Universities around the world (Lebanon, Tunis, Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Portugal, and others.)

Al Kawas is the co-author of Methods for Elementary and Intermediate Music Stages in Lebanon (1997/1998) and the author of Methods for Teacher’s Mu-sic Institutes in Lebanon (2000). She headed the Committee of the training and Preparation of Music Schools teachers in Lebanon at The Center for Educational Research and Development (CERD). She is on the editing board of Science & World Magazine since 2003.

Al Kawas is the author of the music curricula at Hariri Foundation Schools in Lebanon and founded with the foundation, a children Choir that is singing both Lebanese and Western repertoire and earning Gold medals at prestigious Choir competitions.

The University of Amsterdam teaches her music composition style and vocal techniques she uses to project the Arabic phoneme.

Brunel University in London included her works as part of the University’s music department references and studies.

The University of Florida implemented Al Kawas vocal technique for Arabic singing as part of their Methods of use from 2008-2013.

National & Regional Music Influencer

Hiba Al Kawas and since the mid of nineties has been effecting the music and cultural stream of Lebanon and the Arab world, by motivating the progress and establishing different Music and cultural infrastructures, as well as her long term work on the progress of the music education. Hiba Al Kawas contributed to the Lebanese Music in creating a stream for classical music and Opera, she worked with Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and Dr. Walid Gholmieh on founding the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra.

Regionally she influenced and worked together closely with Arab authorities to open a path and a new stream for Opera and classical music and create a real cultural and music platform for them.

In 2017 Al Kawas worked with the Lebanese minister of culture Dr. Ghattas Khouri on designing a Five years cultural plan for Lebanon. She was appointed to reveal the plan and concept of the Lebanese National Opera House and it was revealed to the public and Media at UNESCO Palace in Beirut on the 4th of March 2017.

Lectures & Conferences

Hiba Al Kawas lectured and was part of many conferences regionally and internationally on Music, Composition, Arabic Opera, Strategies in developing culture and music in the Arab and MENA region as well as lectures on Arts & Music as a force tool in the face of terrorism and extremism. She presented her lectures at many different Fora such as UNESCO, UN-HABITAT, ALECSO, Nobel World Summit, Estoril Festival, Arab Cultural Club, ADMAF - Abu Dhabi, Sousa festival-Tunis, Sharjah Festival, and many others…

Social Contribution

Hiba Al Kawas served her society where she worked on music community programs, as well as contributing to the Women Empowerment in her society and as part of many international conferences.

Chairs

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 founding 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. Al Kawas is on the Artists board of the International Organization Under UNESCO, EMMA for peace where the renowned conductor Ricardo Mutti is the honorary president and Paolo Petrocelli is the founder. Al Kawas was at the board of the Lebanese National Commission for UNESCO from 2000 - 2006.

Decorations, Prizes & Recognitions

Hiba Al Kawas received several decorations and awards in various countries. His Majesty Sultan Qaboos of Oman in 2007 awarded her The Golden Order of Sultan Qaboos for Culture, Science and Arts. In July 2003, a Stamp holding her name and picture was published in Lebanon. In 2010 Al Kawas received the Golden Medal decoration of the King of Bahrain. Other prizes include: The Medal of the Royal Opera House Muscat (2012). The Arab Cultural Club Seal (2015). 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).

In 2000 she was named Representative of Contemporary Composers of the year by the Krakow Contemporary Composition Festival and in 2011 was selected as the living contemporary composer representative to be played by The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Astronomer Alan Hale, known for his co-discovery of comet Hale- Bopp chose her music to accompany the presentation of his cosmic discoveries on DVD.

Al Kawas was chosen several times by the Dutch Radios as the composer of the week.

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.