Lotfi Bouchnak (; born January 18, 1954) is a Tunisian singer, oud player, composer and public figure. He is considered one of the best tenors in the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

and has been dubbed as Tunisia's " Pavarotti". He also played in Tunisian TV series and movies including Maktoub, La boîte magique, Halou u mer and El paraíso ya no es lo que era.

Biography

Bouchnak was born in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

to a family of

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and Turkish origin. At a young age, he began re-performing the songs of Oum Kalthoum and other masters of Egyptian music. He joined the "Youth Musical Group of Tunis", then "Arrachidia", where he started improving his vocal skills with

Ali Sriti Ali Sriti () (b. 1919 in Tunis–d. 5 April 2007) was a Tunisian oudist, composer, and music teacher. Biography He learned music at a young age from his father, who encouraged him to listen to classical Arabic music including Egyptians Sayed ...

. He also learnt to play the Oud. In 1979, at the age of 25, Bouchnak recorded his first song composed by Ahmed Siddiqui. He then started working with other famous composers such as Sayed Mekkaoui, Fathallah Ahmed, and Anwar Brahem. In the 1980s, he started composing songs for other artists such as Khaled and the rap group IAM. Bouchnak has been one of few artists to have regular shows in 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 ...

since 1992. He won the Best Arab Singer Award in Washington DC, in 1997. In 2019 he collaborates with the Tunisian heavy metal band Myrath on the song "Mersal" (from their album '' Shehili'') and with the Italian artist Tosca in her album ''Morabeza''.

Honours and awards

Honours

* Grand Officier of the National Order of Merit of Tunisia * Grand Officier of the Order of the Seventh of November of

* Grand Star of the Order of Culture, Science and Arts of

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Awards

* Prize of Khedivial Opera House * Gold Medal of Institut du Monde Arabe * Gold Medal of the

Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) is a Tunis-based Institutions of the Arab League, institution of the Arab League, established in accordance with article 3 of the Arab Cultural Unity Charter by an announc ...

* Gold Medal of National Festival of Popular Arts of

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* Medal of the City of

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

References

External links

1952 births Tunisian people of Turkish descent Living people 20th-century Tunisian male singers 21st-century Tunisian male singers Tunisian oud players {{Tunisia-bio-stub