Setrak Sarkissian ستراك سركسيان (1936 – 21 February 2017) was a Lebanese

darbouka The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet-shaped body. It is ...

player of Armenian descent. He has won numerous awards in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

for his contributions to both traditional and modern

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 ...

. His compositions and arrangements have been featured on over 30 recordings and movie soundtracks, including five with

Farid al-Atrash Farid al-Atrash (; October 19, 1910 – December 26, 1974), also spelled Farid El-Atrache, was a Syrian-Egyptian singer, oudist, composer, and actor. Although born in Syria, he immigrated to Egypt at the age of nine with his mother and siblings, ...

Biography

Sarkissian was born in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Lebanon. His passion for music began early; inspired by his older brother's tabla playing at home and at family parties by 18 was learning to play himself. His family was not always supportive, since at that time music as a profession did not have a high social status, they even broke his drum. Not to be deterred, he continued to play and enrolled at the conservatory for further training. His skill was immediately recognized, and Sarkissian excelled rapidly. Sarkissian began touring with the dancer

Nadia Gamal Nadia Gamal (, 1937 – 1990) was an Egyptian dancer and actress. She is known of mixing local Egyptian belly dance with Western Waltz, Cowboy, Cha Cha and other. Early life and career Born as Maria Carydias to a Greek father and Italian mother ...

in 1958, performing with her until 1962, when he began playing with Samira Toufik. Sarkissian has performed with many Middle Eastern singers, including Samira Toufik,

Fairuz Nouhad Wadie Haddad (, ; born November 20, 1934 or November 21, 1935), known as Fairuz (, ), is a Lebanese singer. She is widely considered an iconic vocalist and one of the most celebrated singers in the history of the Arab world. She is pop ...

, Mouhamed Abdel Wahab, Farid El Atrash, Sabah Fakhri,

Abdel Halim Hafez Abdel Halim Ali Shabana (), commonly known as Abdel Halim Hafez (, ) (21 June 1929 – 30 March 1977), was an Egyptian singer, actor, conductor, businessman, music teacher and film producer. Abdel Halim is considered to be one of the greatest ...

, Fayza Ahmed, Warda,

Saba Saba may refer to: Places * Saba (island), an island of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea * Sabá, a municipality in the department of Colón, Honduras * Șaba or Șaba-Târg, the Romanian name for Shabo, a village in Ukraine * Saba, ...

h, and Majida Roumi. He has performed with such dancers as

, Tahiya Carioka, Samia Gamal,

Fifi Abdou Fifi Abdou (, , born Atiyat Abdul Fattah Ibrahim (), ; April 26, 1953) is an Egyptian belly dancer and actress. She has been described as "synonymous with belly dancing in the years she was performing." Early life and career Abdou was born as ...

, Nagwa Fouad, Souher Zaki, Samara, Amani, Ranine, Noura, and Shahraman. He continued to perform, record and teach. He lived in the traditionally

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

neighborhood of

Bourj Hammoud Bourj Hammoud (also spelled Burj Hammud; ; ) is a town and municipality in Lebanon located north-east of the capital Beirut, in the Matn District, and is part of Greater Beirut. The town is heavily populated by Lebanese Armenians. Bourj Hammoud ...

and taught workshops around the world, along with international performances. Setrak has recorded over 20 albums of belly dance and traditional middle eastern music, most of which with the Hollywood Music Center label. Setrak Sarkissian died on 21 February 2017 in Beirut, Lebanon.

References

1936 births 2017 deaths Lebanese musicians Tabla players Musicians from Beirut Lebanese people of Armenian descent {{percussionist-stub

Biography

See also

References