Samih Choukaer

Samih Choukaer (also: Samih Choukair, Samih Choukeir; Arabic سميح شقير, DMG Samīḥ Šuqair ; born 1957 ) is a Syrian musician, singer and composer.

Life

Choukaer writes most of his lyrics and melodies himself, but also interprets texts by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and others. Many of his songs are political and revolutionary, but he does not belong to any political party. His music is known throughout the Arab world.

In 1982 Choukaer appeared on stage for the first time; in the same year he gave a guest concert in Algeria . In the 1980s he performed in numerous cities in Syria and Lebanon , but also in London , Moscow , Tunis , Paris , and in 1987 in several cities in West Germany (including Hamburg , Berlin , Düsseldorf and Stuttgart ). From 1990 to 1994 he studied Kiev . During this time he also performed in Saint Petersburg and other cities in Russia . In 2000 he appeared at a festival in Cologne in front of more than 60,000 spectators. In the early 2000s he made guest appearances in several cities in the USA as well as in Jordan , Palestine, Spain , Sweden , the Netherlands and again in Germany.

In a song he describes the events of March 18, 2011 in Darʿā at the beginning of the civil war in Syria . In Ya haif he uses the maqām »Ṣabā« to express his grief over the death of children and other civilians at the beginning of the 2011 revolution.

Choukaer was the first known Syrian artist who, after the start of the uprising in 2011, clearly sided with the revolution and therefore had to go into exile.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Albert Nasser Agha: Intonations of Grief. Samih Choukeir's “Ya Haif” and the 2011 Syrian Revolution . Northern Illinois University, 2013; see. Sam Dagher: Assad or We Burn the Country . Hachette, 2019; ISBN 031655670X .
2. ↑ Aboud Saeed: Life-size news ticker. Scenes from memory . mikrotext, 2015; ISBN 3944543211 .