Karim Wasfi

Karim Wasfi (* 1972 in Cairo ) is an Egyptian-Iraqi cellist , conductor and composer . Since 2007 he has directed the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra in Baghdad .

Life

In 2007 Wasfi took over the leadership of the Iraqi Symphony Orchestra in Baghdad. He became internationally known for demonstratively playing with his cello in places where people had recently died in bomb attacks. He explained on the Al Jazeera channel : The horror, the madness and the grotesque - the terrorist attacks - should be overcome through beauty, creativity and finesse.

Wasfi founded an Iraqi youth orchestra that rehearsed once a year in Erbil and brought together young people from Baghdad, Erbil, Kirkuk and Mosul. In 2012 he founded the peace initiative "Peace Through the Arts" together with other musicians and artists. In this context he played at the Institut des cultures arabes et méditerranéennes in November 2016 in Geneva.

Individual evidence

↑ Iraqi music star plays the cello in the bomb crater . In: Focus, April 30, 2015
↑ "I beat death with beauty" . In: the daily newspaper April 2, 2016
↑ ICAM: Concert de Karim Wasfi (Iraq) à l'ICAM-L'Olivier (2019-11-07). In: Institut des cultures arabes et méditerranéennes (ICAM). October 25, 2019, accessed January 16, 2020 (American English).

personal data
SURNAME	Wasfi, Karim
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Egyptian-Iraqi cellist, conductor and composer
DATE OF BIRTH	1972
PLACE OF BIRTH	Cairo

[1] Iraqi music star plays the cello in the bomb crater . In: Focus, April 30, 2015

[2] "I beat death with beauty" . In: the daily newspaper April 2, 2016

[3] ICAM: Concert de Karim Wasfi (Iraq) à l'ICAM-L'Olivier (2019-11-07). In: Institut des cultures arabes et méditerranéennes (ICAM). October 25, 2019, accessed January 16, 2020 (American English).