The Arabic Oud House () is a music school for the traditional Arabic lute called
oud in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
, Egypt. Founded by Iraqi oud player
Naseer Shamma, the school has trained a new generation of oud players and subsequently opened branches in the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Algeria and Sudan.
History
The Arabic Oud House was created in 1999 in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
by Iraqi
oud player and composer
Naseer Shamma.
[
] Shamma, who graduated from the
Baghdad Academy of Music, is a
UNESCO Artist for Peace UNESCO Artists for Peace are international celebrity advocates for the United Nations agency UNESCO. This category of advocate is intended to heighten public awareness in addition to the categories UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and UNESCO Champion for ...
and has been distinguished by other organizations like the
International Red Crescent and Red Cross Societies as goodwill ambassador.
It is said to be the first music school exclusively dedicated to teaching
oud as a solo instrument, which is a relatively recent development for the instrument.
Initially based at the
Cairo Opera House
The Cairo Opera House (, ''Dār el-Opera el-Masreyya''; literally "Egyptian Opera House"), part of Cairo's National Cultural Centre, is the main performing arts venue in the Egyptian capital. Home to most of Egypt's finest musical groups, it is ...
, it has since moved to an historical building in the old city of Cairo.
Since its beginning, it has gained an international reputation as an oud school.
Oud players like
Yurdal Tokcan from Turkey or
Saïd Chraibi from Morocco gave masterclasses there,
and several oud players of a new generation graduated from it, such as
Tarek Abdallah, Ghassan Youssef, Hazem El Shahin or Nehad El Sayyed.
In the following years, the Arabic Oud House opened branches in
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
,
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
,
Baghdad,
Constantine and
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan.
Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...
. The music school in Khartoum also teaches the stringed instrument
qanun and has trained craftsmen in the production of the oud. Further, it aspires to become a center for oud players all over Africa.
In literature
The novel ''Le Traître'', by
Pierre Cormon
Pierre Cormon, born 1965 in Ambilly, France, is a Swiss writer and has published books in French, Brazilian Portuguese and English, including ''Swiss Politics for Complete Beginners''.Le Temps See
Biography
He began his career as a journalist ...
, is partly set in the Arabic Oud House, where it is called 'Arabic Lute Institute'.
[{{cite web, language=fr , newspaper= Tribune de Genève, 7 August 2010 , title="Le traître" guide les lecteurs sur les pistes sinueuses du Moyen-Orient , url=https://pierrecormon.com/la-tribune-de-ge…-2010-em-frances/]
See also
*
Arabic music
Arabic music () is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse List of music styles, music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also many linguistic Varieties of Arabic, dialects, with each countr ...
References
External links
Official websiteOfficial website of the Arabic Oud House in Abu DhabiYouTube channel of the Arabic Oud House in KhartoumVideo of Bait Aloud/Arabic Oud House Khartoum and Naseer Shamma at Expo Dubai 2000
Music schools in Egypt
Music organisations based in Egypt
Music organisations based in Algeria
Music organisations based in the United Arab Emirates
Music organizations based in Iraq