Biographies: Marcel Khalife - Music Composer

Biographies

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Marcel was born in 1950 in the town of ‘Amsheet on Mount Lebanon. Khalife is among the best known Arab artist who are concerned with the Palestinian issue. Marcel is a Lebanese lyricist, singer and ‘oud player. He composed some of the songs authored by Palestinian poet Mohamed Derwish in the late ‘70s and ‘80s. The pair formed a unique duo. Also significant is that Marcel integrated the saxophone into Arabic music and in particular in one of his most important songs which was titled “Ya’broun al-Jissr” (“They are Crossing the Bridge”). As the ‘90s came by Marcel began to transition towards composition only as he put aside singing. This transition was marked by a symphony titled “Gadal”, that work represented a sort of revolution for Marcel. Marcel also worked on several music videos for theatrical productions, amongst these were: “Hilm Laylat al-Sayf” (“Summer Night Dream”), “al-Andalus”, “al-Hilm al-Mafqoud” (“Lost Dream”), “Elissa” and “Malikkat Qurtaj” (“Queen of Carthage”). In 2003 Marcel faced legal action for integrating a verse of the Holy Quran into one of his songs but he was subsequently acquitted. Marcel was recently at the helm of an international orchestra that included musicians from across the world. He has also released an album titled “Taqaseem”. In 2005 Marcel was made a UNESCO Artist for Peace.

• 15 February 2011
• محمد ألطيب