Naseer Shamma

Naseer Shamma (2011).

Naseer Shamma ( Arabic نصير شمة, DMG Naṣīr Šamma , tooشمه / Ammammah ; * 1963 in Kut , Iraq ) is an Iraqi oud player who has received many awards.

He studied with the Iraqi Grand Master Munir Bashir at the Music Academy in Baghdad , where he received his diploma in musical arts in 1987. In addition to today's playing technique with plectrum , he has also mastered the ancient technique with five fingers.

From 1993 to 1998 he taught at the music academy in Tunisia . He has been composing his own pieces since the beginning of his professional career. His main concern is to give concerts in different parts of the world. He has lived in Cairo , Egypt since the late 1990s , where he founded the Bait al-Oud al-Arabi (House of the Arabic Oud) in 1998 , which he is currently conducting alongside his concert appearances. In 1999 he founded the Al-Oyoin Ensemble , which combines methods and instruments of classical Arabic music as well as western music .

He is the only contemporary musician to have built an oud with eight instead of the usual six strings based on the manuscripts of the famous music theorist al-Farabi from the 9th century. This change expanded the range of the instrument and gave it its own tonality .

Another innovation of the musician is the use and teaching of a one-handed playing technique of the oud. This was originally developed by Salim Abdulkarim to enable people disabled by the Gulf War to play oud.

Discography

• Le luth de Baghdad ("The Baghdad Lute") (1994, Paris)
• Ishrāq (1996)
• The Moon Fades (1999)
• Maqamat Ziryab (2003)
• Ancient Dreams (2004)
• Meditation (2005)
• Hilal (2005)
• Ard Alsawad (2006)
• Viaje de las almas (2011)

Web links

• Website of Naseer Shamma
• Rawafed: Documentary Interview with Naseer Shamma "part one". Alarabiya.net
• Rawafed: Documentary Interview with Naseer Shamma "part two". Alarabiya.net