Omar Akram is an Afghan-American producer, composer, and pianist. In 2013, he became the first Afghan-American to win a

Grammy Award for Best New Age Album The Grammy Award for Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album is presented to recording artists for quality albums in the new-age music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. H ...

for his fourth studio album, ''Echoes of Love.'' Omar’s most recent album release, ''Moments Of Beauty,'' was nominated for Best New Age, Ambient or Chant album at the Grammy Awards in February 2024. He is also an inspirational writer who contributes to

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

Early life

Akram was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He grew up traveling around the world as the son of a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

diplomat living everywhere from

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. He notably met

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

at the age of 14, who is said to have allowed him to sneak into the local Cuban

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

clubs, the sounds of which influenced his formative compositional style.

Career

In 1993, Akram moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where he performed in various

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

bands while also writing his own music. In 2002, he signed a recording deal with Real Music. His first commercial album release that same year, titled ''Opal Fire'', reached ''Billboard'''s New Age Top 15 Chart that same year. His sophomore release ''Free As A Bird'' in 2004, produced and arranged by keyboardist

Gregg Karukas Gregg Karukas (born 1956) is a smooth jazz pianist from Bowie, Maryland who first gained notice in Washington, D.C., then moved to Los Angeles in 1982. He backed Melissa Manchester before he co-founded the Rippingtons in 1986. He experimented ...

, featured world class violinist

Charlie Bisharat Charlie Bisharat (born March 15, 1963) is an American violinist known as a member of Shadowfax and for his work in film and with other new age jazz artists. Life and career He was born in Inglewood, California, in 1963 to Palestinian parents w ...

and Grammy Award-winning saxophonist

Eric Marienthal Eric Marienthal (born December 19, 1957) is a Grammy Award-nominated Los Angeles-based contemporary saxophonist best known for his work in the jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, and pop genres. Early life Eric Marienthal was born on December 19, 1 ...

. This album also reached ''Billboard''s New Age Top 15 Chart that same year. In 2007, ''Secret Journey'', produced, co-written and arranged by

, also critically acclaimed, featured Ardeshir Farah. In 2012, Akram was nominated and won the

for his album ''Echoes of Love'', also produced, co-written and arranged by

. This album was followed by ''Daytime Dreamer'' in 2013 which featured six new recordings along with tracks previously released from ''Opal Fire'' and ''Free As A Bird.'' Akram's most recent album release "Destiny," co-produced with producer

Walter Afanasieff Walter Afanasieff (born Vladimir Nikitich Afanasyev; February 10, 1958), formerly nicknamed Baby Love in the 1980s, is an American record producer and songwriter. He was a frequent collaborator of Mariah Carey on her first six studio albums. Af ...

, was independently released through his own company, Twinbrook Entertainment, on August 9, 2019. Afanasieff also contributes vocals to the first single release from the album, "Here I Am". An accompanying official music video was directed by

Erik White Erik White is an American music video director. In 2010, he made his feature film directorial debut with the comedy film ''Lottery Ticket'', starring rappers Bow Wow and Ice Cube. He appeared on the reality show competition '' The Glee Project' ...

. Shardad Rohani arranged and conducted the

Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (), previously known as Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and CSR Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony radio orchestra based in Bratislava, Slovakia. Founded in 1929 to serve Slovak Radio, the orchestra beca ...

on two tracks. The album was mixed by four-time Grammy winner Dave Reitzas at Westlake Studios in Hollywood, CA. Starting from the lockdown resulting from

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Omar Akram has been producing a docu-series titled "Omar's Music Chamber, where he performed a number of songs in his previous albums, as well as some newly written music. " From this collection, Omar Akram released a new album, The Light Will Come, on April 23, 2021. The Moments Of Beauty album was released on July 7, 2023. The album is animated by a spirit of reflection and contemplation that taps into personal cherished memories. As Omar notes, “it reminds me of my first album, Opal Fire, especially with its feeling of simplicity in the melodies and the simple truths they convey." Moments Of Beauty was nominated for Best New Age, Ambient or Chant album at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in November 2023.

Awards and honors

for ''Echoes of Love'' in 2014. Grammy Nomination for Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album for ''Moments Of Beauty'' in 2024.

Discography

Opal Fire

Real Music (Album Release Date: September 3, 2002)

Free As A Bird

Real Music (Album Release Date: April 27, 2004)

Secret Journey

Real Music (Album Release Date: September 25, 2007). Secret Journey peaked at #12 on ''Billboard'''s New Age Chart.

Echoes Of Love

Real Music (Album Release Date: June 5, 2012). Echoes Of Love was awarded a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

for Best New Age Album.

Daytime Dreamer

Real Music (Album Release Date: September 24, 2013)

Destiny

Twinbrook Entertainment (Album Release Date: August 9, 2019)

The Light Will Come

Twinbrook Entertainment (Album Release Date: April 23, 2021) The second track of the album, For George, is dedicated to the memory of

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd had used a counterfeit tw ...

Moments Of Beauty

Twinbrook Entertainment (Album Release Date: July 7, 2023). Moments Of Beauty was nominated for Best New Age, Ambient or Chant album at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in November 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akram, Omar Living people 21st-century Afghan musicians Grammy Award winners 1964 births