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Malek Jandali

Active as both a composer and pianist, Malek Jandali integrates Western and Middle Eastern elements in his work. His compositions have been widely performed in his adoptive U.S. Jandali was born in Homs, Syria, in 1972. His cousins include novelist Mona Simpson and her brother, Apple founder Steve Jobs. Jandali started his career as a pianist, studying at the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus with Vladimir Zaritsky; he also traveled to the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow for studies with Ivan Bunin. Jandali took first place in the Syrian National Young Artists Competition in 1988. In 1995, he earned a scholarship to the North Carolina School for the Arts for piano studies with Eric Larsen. He served as organist and choir director for St. James Catholic Church in Concord, North Carolina, during this period. Jandali went on to Queens University for studies with Paul Nitsch; there, he won the school's Outstanding Musical Performer Award. Jandali also took composition lessons during this period from Eddie Horst, Harry Bulow, Lawrence Dillon, and Richard Prior. He returned to North Carolina, earning a master's degree in 2004 from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In 2009, he issued the album Echoes from Ugarit: Original Music Composed by Malek Jandali; the album contained a work based on a melody notated in cuneiform on clay tablets found in Ugarit, Syria. Composed in about 1400 B.C.E., it is arguably the oldest piece of notated music in the world. Jandali has appeared as a pianist with such ensembles as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, the Cairo Symphony, and the Zagreb Philharmonic. Sometimes appearing with his Malek Jandali Trio, he has performed in major halls, including the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Carnegie Hall in New York, the National Auditorium in Madrid, and the Madinat Theater in Dubai. Jandali founded the organization Pianos for Peace, and he dedicated his 2012 album Emessa to the Syrian people and their quest for freedom. After he performed at a pro-Syrian democracy protest in New York, his parents were beaten by Syrian security forces and forced to flee Syria. Jandali released the album Soho in 2015 with his Malek Jandali Trio. His works have increasingly often been performed by others; his Syrian Symphony was premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2014, and in 2023, his concertos for violin and clarinet were featured on a Cedille album by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Marin Alsop.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography

11 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller

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