Simon Shaheen is a Palestinian-American oud

Oud

The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...

 and violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

 virtuoso and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

At the age of 2, Shaheen moved with his family to Haifa

Haifa

Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...

, but spent most of the weekends in Tarshiha

Ma'alot-Tarshiha

Ma'alot-Tarshiha is a mixed city in the North District in Israel, some 20 km east of Nahariya, about 600 meter above sea level. The city was established in 1963 through a municipal merger of the Arab town of Tarshiha and the Jewish town of Ma'alot...

, an Arabic town under Israeli sovereignty. The Shaheen family is known for its musicality with music instructor & father Hikmat, oud-playing & instrument-making brother Najib, violinist & oud playing William, and singing sisters Laura and Rosette.

Music career

He began playing the oud at 5, and the violin shortly thereafter. He attended Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...

, earning degrees in Arabic literature and music performance. He later pursued further studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...

. In 1980 he emigrated to the United States to study music at the Manhattan School of Music

Manhattan School of Music

The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...

 and Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, eventually becoming a U.S. citizen.

He formed the Near Eastern Music Ensemble, which performs classical Arabic music, and organized annual Arabic music retreats and arts festivals.

Shaheen, a Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

, lives in New York City, where he leads an Arabic ensemble called Qantara which he formed. Qantara melds jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

, and western classical music with Arabic elements.

In 1994 he received a National Heritage Fellowship

National Heritage Fellowship

The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts...

 from the National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...

.

In addition to his work in traditional and classical Arabic music, Shaheen has participated in many cross-cultural musical projects, including performing with producer Bill Laswell

Bill Laswell

Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

n singer Soraya

Soraya

Soraya is a female name of Persian origin meaning "rich" and/or "princess" . It is also a reference to the Pleiades. It may refer to:...

, Henry Threadgill

Henry Threadgill

Henry Threadgill is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. Threadgill came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating a range of non-jazz genres....

, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt also known as V. M. Bhatt is an Indian slide guitar player. Bhatt is the creator of the Mohan Veena...

, and with Jewish klezmer

Klezmer

Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

 musicians The Klezmatics

The Klezmatics

The Klezmatics are a Grammy Award-winning American klezmer music group based in New York City, who have achieved fame singing in several languages, most notably mixing older Yiddish tunes with other types of more contemporary music of differing origins...

.

Select discography

• 1990 – Music of Waheeb, Mango/Island/PolyGram
  PolyGram
  PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
  
  
• 1990 – The Music of Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Axiom/Island/PolyGram
• 1992 – Turath (Heritage), CMP
• 1993 – Taqasim: Art of Improvisation in Arabic Music
• 1996 – Saltanah (with V. M. Bhatt), Water Lily Acoustics
  Water Lily Acoustics
  Water Lily Acoustics is an American record label based in Santa Barbara, California. It primarily releases recordings of Indian classical music and cross-cultural collaborations between musicians from around the world...
  
  
• 2001 – Blue Flame, Ark 21/Universal

External links

• Simon Shaheen official site
• "Bridges," 2001 article
• [ AllMusic entry]